of the Church and indeed the welfare of society here
on earth—things therefore which are always and
everywhere to be kept secure and defended against
all injury—this certainly is preeminent, namely, that
the Church should enjoy that full measure of freedom
which her care for salvation of men requires. This
freedom is sacred, because the only-begotten Son
endowed with it the Church which He purchased with
His blood. It is so much the property of the Church that
to act against it is to act against the will of God. The
freedom of the Church is the fundamental principle in
what concerns the relations between the Church and
governments and the whole civil order.
Declaration on Religious Liberty
(Dignitatis Humanae), no. 13
December 7, 1965
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Reflection for Day Twelve:
In Chapter I, the Council Fathers considered the
nature of religious freedom from a rational and philosophical
perspective—the dignity and equality of
human beings and the natural right to religious liberty.
In Chapter II, they turn to examining religious
liberty in the light of Christian Revelation.
In this context, the Council Fathers forthrightly
insist that the Church must “enjoy that full measure
of freedom which her care for salvation of men
requires.” Jesus became man, died, and rose from the
dead so that all men and women would come to salvation—
to know the fullness of truth and the fullness of
the Father’s love. This is why the Church’s religious
freedom is “sacred.” Jesus, through the Holy Spirit,
founded the Church as the means by which his saving
message and presence would go forth to all the world.
Only then would Jesus’ Gospel be lived out among
all nations and peoples. Only if the Church is free
can she rightly fulfill her divine commission. This is
why the Church jealously guards her freedom while
simultaneously fostering harmonious, appropriate, and
just relations with various governments throughout
the world.
What present circumstances threaten the freedom
of the Catholic Church particularly?
Are threatsto the Church’s freedom always from without, or do
threats arise from within the Church itself?
What threats in the past has the Church in our country had
to contend with?
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