Declaration on religious freedom, December 7, 1965 / Second Vatican Council.


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Religious

December 7 , 1965





CORRECTION IN DECLARATION ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM:

The following insert should be made in the second line at
the top of page 3 after the words “contrary to his own
beliefs, 11 and before the words “whether privately or public-
ly, whether alone or" :

nor is anyone to be restrained from act-

ing in accordance with his own beliefs,





December 7, 1965

National Catholic Welfare Conference
1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W. Washington 5, D. C.





PAUL, BISHOP,
SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF
GOD TOGETHER WITH THE
FATHERS OF THE SACRED

COUNCIL

ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM,
ON THE RIGHT OF THE

PERSON AND OF COMMUNITIES TO
SOCIAL AND CIVIL FREEDOM IN

MATTERS RELIGIOUS
1. A sense of the dignity of the human person has been

impressing itself more and more deeply on the consciousness of

contemporary man
,

1 and the demand is increasingly made that men
should act on their own judgment, enjoying and making use of a
responsible freedom, not driven by coercion but motivated by a

sense of duty. The demand is likewise made that constitutional
limits should be set to the powers of government, in order that there

may be no encroachment on the rightful freedom of the person and
of associations. This demand for freedom in human society chiefly
regards the quest for the values proper to the human spirit. It
regards, in the first place, the free exercise of religion in society.

1



This Vatican Council takes careful note of these desires in the

minds of men. It proposes to declare them to be greatly in accord

with truth and justice. To this end, it searches into the sacred
tradition and doctrine of the Church—the treasury out of which
the Church continually brings forth new things that are in harmony
with the things that are old.

First, the Council professes its belief that God Himself has
made known to mankind the way in which men are to serve Him,
and thus be saved in Christ and come to blessedness. We believe
that this one true religion subsists in the Catholic and Apostolic

Church, to which the Lord Jesus committed the duty of spreading

it abroad among all men. Thus He spoke to the Apostles: “Go,
therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have enjoined upon you”

(Matt. 28:19-20). On their part, all men are bound to seek the
truth, especially in what concerns God and His Church, and to
embrace the truth they come to know, and to hold fast to it.

This Vatican Council likewise professes its belief that it is

upon the human conscience that these obligations fall and exert
their binding force. The truth cannot impose itself except by

virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the mind at
once quietly and with power.

Religious freedom, in turn, which men demand as necessary to
fulfill their duty to worship God, has to do with immunity from

coercion in civil society. Therefore it leaves untouched traditional

Catholic doctrine on the moral duty of men and societies toward
the true religion and toward the one Church of Christ.

Over and above all this, the Council intends to develop the

doctrine of recent popes on the inviolable rights of the human
person and the constitutional order of society.

2. This Vatican Council declares that the human person has

a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are

to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social

2



groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be

forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether
privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others,

within due limits.

The Council further declares that the right to religious freedom

has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person as this
dignity is known through the revealed Word of God and by reason
itself.

2 This right of the human person to religious freedom is to

be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is gov-

erned and thus it is to become a civil right.

It is in accordance with their dignity as persons—that is,
beings endowed with reason and free will and therefore privileged

to bear personal responsibility—that all men should be at once
impelled by nature and also bound by a moral obligation to seek

the truth, especially religious truth. They are also bound to adhere

to the truth, once it is known, and to order their whole lives in

accord with the demands of truth. However, men cannot discharge
these obligations in a manner in keeping with their own nature
unless they enjoy immunity from external coercion as well as

psychological freedom. Therefore the right to religious freedom has

its foundation not in the subjective disposition of the person, but in

his very nature. In consequence, the right to this immunity con-

tinues to exist even in those who do not live up to their obligation
of seeking the truth and adhering to it and the exercise of this

right is not to be impeded, provided that just public order be

observed.

3. Further light is shed on the subject if one considers that

the highest norm of human life is the divine law—eternal, objective
and universal—whereby God orders, directs and governs the entire
universe and all the ways of the human community by a plan con-
ceived in wisdom and love. Man has been made by God to partici-
pate in this law, with the result that, under the gentle disposition of

divine Providence, he can come to perceive ever more fully the
truth that is unchanging. Wherefore every man has the duty, and
therefore the right, to seek the truth in matters religious in order

3



that he may with prudence form for himself right and true judg-
ments of conscience, under use of all suitable means.

Truth, however, is to be sought after in a manner proper to

the dignity of the human person and his social nature. The inquiry
is to be free, carried on with the aid of teaching or instruction,

communication and dialogue, in the course of which men explain
to one another the truth they have discovered, or think they have

discovered, in order thus to assist one another in the quest for

truth.

Moreover, as the truth is discovered, it is by a personal assent

that men are to adhere to it.

On his part, man perceives and acknowledges the imperatives
of the divine law through the mediation of conscience. In all his

activity a man is bound to follow his conscience in order that he
may come to God, the end and purpose of life. It follows that he is
not to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his conscience. Nor,

on the other hand, is he to be restrained from acting in accordance

with his conscience, especially in matters religious. The reason

is that the exercise of religion, of its very nature, consists before

all else in those internal, voluntary and free acts whereby man sets
the course of his life directly toward God. No merely human power
can either command or prohibit acts of this kind . 3 The social
nature of man, however, itself requires that he should give external

expression to his internal acts of religion: that he should share

with others in matters religious; that he should profess his religion

in community. Injury therefore is done to the human person and
to the very order established by God for human life, if the free
exercise of religion is denied in society, provided just public order

is observed.

There is a further consideration. The religious acts whereby

men, in private and in public and out of a sense of personal con-

viction, direct their lives to God transcend by their very nature
the order of terrestrial and temporal affairs. Government therefore

ought indeed to take account of the religious life of the citizenry and

show it favor, since the function of government is to make pro-

4



vision for the common welfare. However, it would clearly transgress
the limits set to its power, were it to presume to command or inhibit
acts that are religious.

4. The freedom or immunity from coercion in matters reli-

gious which is the endowment of persons as individuals is also to be

recognized as their right when they act in community. Religious

communities are a requirement of the social nature both of man and
of religion itself.

Provided the just demands of public order are observed, re-

ligious communities rightfully claim freedom in order that they

may govern themselves according to their own norms, honor the
Supreme Being in public worship, assist their members in the

practice of the religious life, strengthen them by instruction, and

promote institutions in which they may join together for the pur-
pose of ordering their own lives in accordance with their religious
principles.

Religious communities also have the right not to be hindered,

either by legal measures or by administrative action on the part

of government, in the selection, training, appointment, and trans-

ferral of their own ministers, in communicating with religious
authorities and communities abroad, in erecting buildings for

religious purposes, and in the acquisition and use of suitable funds

or properties.

Religious communities also have the right not to be hindered

in their public teaching and witness to their faith, whether by the

spoken or by the written word. However, in spreading religious

faith and in introducing religious practices everyone ought at all

times to refrain from any manner of action which might seem to

carry a hint of coercion or of a kind of persuasion that would be

dishonorable or unworthy, especially when dealing with poor or

uneducated people. Such a manner of action would have to be

considered an abuse of one’s right and a violation of the right

of others.

In addition, it comes within the meaning of religious freedom

that religious communities should not be prohibited from freely

5



undertaking to show the special value of their doctrine in what

concerns the organization of society and the inspiration of the

whole of human activity. Finally, the social nature of man and the
very nature of religion afford the foundation of the right of men
freely to hold meetings and to establish educational, cultural,

charitable and social organizations, under the impulse of their own
religious sense.

5. The family, since it is a society in its own original right,
has the right freely to live its own domestic religious life under
the guidance of parents. Parents, moreover, have the right to

determine, in accordance with their own religious beliefs, the kind
of religious education that their children are to receive. Govern-

ment, in consequence, must acknowledge the right of parents to

make a genuinely free choice of schools and of other means of edu-
cation, and the use of this freedom of choice is not to be made a
reason for imposing unjust burdens on parents, whether directly

or indirectly. Besides, the right of parents are violated, if their

children are forced to attend lessons or instructions which are not

in agreement with their religious beliefs, or if a single system of

education, from which all religious formation is excluded, is im-

posed upon all.

6. Since the common welfare of society consists in the
entirety of those conditions of social life under which men enjoy the

possibility of achieving their own perfection in a certain fullness of

measure and also with some relative ease, it chiefly consists in the

protection of the rights, and in the performance of the duties, of

the human person. 4 Therefore the care of the right to religious

freedom devolves upon the whole citizenry, upon social groups,

upon government, and upon the Church and other religious com-

munities, in virtue of the duty of all toward the common welfare,

and in the manner proper to each.

The protection and promotion of the inviolable rights of man

ranks among the essential duties of government. 5 Therefore gov-

ernment is to assume the safeguard of the religious freedom of all

6



its citizens, in an effective manner, by just laws and by other

appropriate means.

Government is also to help create conditions favorable to the

fostering of religious life, in order that the people may be truly
enabled to exercise their religious rights and to fulfill their re-

ligious duties, and also in order that society itself may profit by
the moral qualities of justice and peace which have their origin in

men’s faithfulness to God and to His holy will. 6

If, in view of peculiar circumstances obtaining among peoples,
special civil recognition is given to one religious community in the

constitutional order of society, it is at the same time imperative

that the right of all citizens and religious communities to religious

freedom should be recognized and made effective in practice.

Finally, government is to see to it that the equality of citizens

before the law, which is itself an element of the common good, is
never violated, whether openly or covertly, for religious reasons.

Nor is there to be discrimination among citizens.

It follows that a wrong is done when government imposes upon

its people, by force or fear or other means, the profession or

repudiation of any religion, or when it hinders men from joining
or leaving a religious community. All the more is it a violation of

the will of God and of the sacred rights of the person and the
family of nations when force is brought to bear in any way in

order to destroy or repress religion, either in the whole of man-

kind or in a particular country or in a definite community.

7. The right to religious freedom is exercised in human
society: hence its exercise is subject to certain regulatory norms. In

the use of all freedoms the moral principle of personal and social

responsibility is to be observed. In the exercise of their rights,

individual men and social groups are bound by the moral law to
have respect both for the rights of others and for their own duties
toward others and for the common welfare of all. Men are to
deal with their fellows in justice and civility.

Furthermore, society has the right to defend itself against

7



possible abuses committed on the pretext of freedom of religion.

It is the special duty of government to provide this protection.

However, government is not to act in an arbitrary fashion or in an

unfair spirit of partisanship. Its action is to be controlled by

juridical norms which are in conformity with the objective moral

order. These norms arise out of the need for the effective safe-

guard of the rights of all citizens and for the peaceful settlement of

conflicts of rights, also out of the need for an adequate care of

genuine public peace, which comes about when men live together
in good order and in true justice, and finally out of the need for a

proper guardianship of public morality.

These matters constitute the basic component of the common
welfare: they are what is meant by public order. For the rest, the

usages of society are to be the usages of freedom in their full range

:

that is, the freedom of man is to be respected as far as possible and
is not to be curtailed except when and insofar as necessary.

8. Many pressures are brought to bear upon the men of our
day, to the point where the danger arises lest they lose the possi-

bility of acting on their own judgment. On the other hand, not a
few can be found who seem inclined to use the name of freedom
as the pretext for refusing to submit to authority and for making

light of the duty of obedience. Wherefore this Vatican Council

urges everyone, especially those who are charged with the task
of educating others, to do their utmost to form men who, on the one
hand, will respect the moral order and be obedient to lawful author-

ity, and, on the other hand, will be lovers of true freedom—men,
in other words, who will come to decisions on their own judgment
and in the light of truth, govern their activities with a sense of

responsibility, and strive after what is true and right, willing always

to join with others in cooperative effort.

Religious freedom therefore ought to have this further pur-

pose and aim, namely, that men may come to act with greater
responsibility in fulfilling their duties in community life.

9. The declaration of this Vatican Council on the right of

man to religious freedom has its foundation in the dignity of the

8



person, whose exigencies have come to be more fully known to

human reason through centuries of experience. What is more, this

doctrine of freedom has roots in divine revelation, and for this

reason Christians are bound to respect it all the more conscienti-

ously. Revelation does not indeed affirm in so many words the

right of man to immunity from external coercion in matters
religious. It does, however, disclose the dignity of the human

person in its full dimensions. It gives evidence of the respect which

Christ showed toward the freedom with which man is to fulfill his
duty of belief in the Word of God and it gives us lessons in the
spirit which disciples of such a Master ought to adopt and con-

tinually follow. Thus further light is cast upon the general principles

upon which the doctrine of this declaration on religious freedom is

based. In particular, religious freedom in society is entirely con-

sonant with the freedom of the act of Christian faith.

10. It is one of the major tenets of Catholic doctrine that

man’s response to God in faith must be free: no one therefore is to
be forced to embrace the Christian faith against his own will. 7

This doctrine is contained in the Word of God and it was constantly
proclaimed by the Fathers of the Church. 8 The act of faith is of its

very nature a free act. Man, redeemed by Christ the Saviour and

through Christ Jesus called to be God’s adopted son,9 cannot give

his adherence to God revealing Himself unless, under the drawing
of the Father, 10 he offers to God the reasonable and free submission
of faith. It is therefore completely in accord with the nature of

faith that in matters religious every manner of coercion on the

part of men should be excluded. In consequence, the principle of
religious freedom makes no small contribution to the creation of an

environment in which men can without hindrance be invited to the
Christian faith, embrace it of their own free will, and profess it
effectively in their whole manner of life.

11. God calls men to serve Him in spirit and in truth, hence
they are bound in conscience but they stand under no compulsion.

God has regard for the dignity of the human person whom He Him-
self created and man is to be guided by his own judgment and he is
to enjoy freedom. This truth appears at its height in Christ Jesus,

9



in whom God manifested Himself and His ways with men. Christ
is at once our Master and our Lord 11 and also meek and humble

of heart. 12 In attracting and inviting His disciples He used
patience. 13 He wrought miracles to illuminate His teaching and to
establish its truth, but His intention was to rouse faith in His

hearers and to confirm them in faith, not to exert coercion upon

them. 14 He did indeed denounce the unbelief of some who listened
to Him, but He left vengeance to God in expectation of the day of
judgment. 15 When He sent His Apostles into the world, He said
to them: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved. He who
does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). But He Him-
self, noting that the cockle had been sown amid the wheat, gave

orders that both should be allowed to grow until the harvest time,

which will come at the end of the world. 16 He refused to be a
political messiah, ruling by force: 17 He preferred to call Himself
the Son of Man, who came “to serve and to give His life as a ransom
for the many” (Mark 10:45). He showed Himself the perfect ser-
vant of God,ls who “does not break the bruised reed nor extinguish
the smoking flax” (Matt. 12:20).

He acknowledged the power of government and its rights,
when He commanded that tribute be given to Caesar: but He gave
clear warning that the higher rights of God are to be kept inviolate

:

“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the
things that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21). In the end, when He com-
pleted on the Cross the work of redemption whereby He achieved
salvation and true freedom for men, He brought His revelation to
completion. For He bore witness to the truth,19 but He refused
to impose the truth by force on those who spoke against it. Not
by force of blows does His rule assert its claims.20 It is established

by witnessing to the truth and by hearing the truth, and it extends

its dominion by the love whereby Christ, lifted up on the Cross,

draws all men to Himself.21

Taught by the word and example of Christ, the Apostles fol-

lowed the same way. From the very origins of the Church the
disciples of Christ strove to convert men to faith in Christ as the
Lord; not, however, by the use of coercion or of devices unworthy

10



of the Gospel, but by the power, above all, of the Word of God. 22

Steadfastly they proclaimed to all the plan of God our Saviour,
“who wills that all men should be saved and come to the acknowl-
edgement of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). At the same time, however,

they showed respect for those of weaker stuff, even though they

were in error, and thus they made it plain that “each one of us is to

render to God an account of himself” (Rom. 14: 12),23 and for
that reason is bound to obey his conscience. Like Christ Himself,

the Apostles were unceasingly bent upon bearing witness to the

truth of God, and they showed the fullest measure of boldness in

“speaking the word with confidence” (Acts 4:31) 24 before the

people and their rulers. With a firm faith they held that the Gospel

is indeed the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.25

Therefore they rejected all “carnal weapons”: 26 they followed the

example of the gentleness and respectfulness of Christ and they

preached the Word of God in the full confidence that there was
resident in this Word itself a divine power able to destroy all the
forces arrayed against God 27 and bring men to faith in Christ and
to His service. 28 As the Master, so too the Apostles recognized
legitimate civil authority. “For there is no power except from

God,” the Apostle teaches, and thereafter commands: “Let every-

one be subject to higher authorities. ... He who resists authority
resists God’s ordinance” (Rom. 13: 1-5). 29 At the same time, how-

ever, they did not hesitate to speak out against governing powers

which set themselves in opposition to the holy will of God: “It is

necessary to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5: 29).30 This is
the way along which the martyrs and other faithful have walked

through all ages and over all the earth.

12. In faithfulness therefore to the truth of the Gospel, the

Church is following the way of Christ and the Apostles when she
recognizes and gives support to the principle of religious freedom

as befitting the dignity of man and as being in accord with divine
revelation. Throughout the ages the Church has kept safe and

handed on the doctrine received from the Master and from the

Apostles. In the life of the People of God, as it has made its pilgrim
way through the vicissitudes of human history, there has at times

11



appeared a way of acting that was hardly in accord with the spirit

of the Gospel or even opposed to it. Nevertheless, the doctrine

of the Church that no one is to be coerced into faith has always

stood firm.

Thus the leaven of the Gospel has long been about its quiet

work in the minds of men, and to it is due in great measure the

fact that in the course of time men have come more widely to
recognize their dignity as persons, and the conviction has grown

stronger that the person in society is to be kept free from all manner

of coercion in matters religious.

13. Among the things that concern the good of the Church
and indeed the welfare of society here on earth—things therefore
that 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 the salvation of men requires. 31 This is a sacred freedom, be-
cause the only-begotten Son endowed with it the Church which He
purchased with His blood. Indeed 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 con-

cerns the relations between the Church and governments and the

whole civil order.

In human society and in the face of government the Church
claims freedom for herself in her character as a spiritual authority,

established by Christ the Lord, upon which there rests, by divine

mandate, the duty of going out into the whole world and preaching

the Gospel to every creature. 32 The Church also claims freedom for

herself in her character as a society of man who have the right to
live in society in accordance with the precepts of Christian faith. 33

In turn, where the principle of religious freedom is not only

proclaimed in words or simply incorporated in law but also given

sincere and practical application, there the Church succeeds in

achieving a stable situation of right as well as of fact and the inde-

pendence which is necessary for the fulfillment of her divine

mission. This independence is precisely what the authorities of the

Church claim in society. 34

12



At the same time, the Christian faithful, in common with all
other men, possess the civil right not to be hindered in leading their

lives in accordance with their consciences. Therefore, a harmony

exists between the freedom of the Church and the religious freedom

which is to be recognized as the right of all men and communities

and sanctioned by constitutional law.

14. In order to be faithful to the divine command, “teach all

nations” (Matt. 28:19-20), the Catholic Church must work with

all urgency and concern “that the word of God be spread abroad

and glorified” (2 Thes. 3:1). Hence the Church earnestly begs of

its children that, “first of all, supplications, prayers, petitions, acts

of thanksgiving be made for all men. . . . For this is good and

agreeable in the sight of God our Saviour, who wills that all men

be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1-4).

In the formation of their consciences, the Christian faithful ought

carefully to attend to the sacred and certain doctrine of the

Church. 35 For the Church is, by the will of Christ, the teacher of

the truth. It is her duty to give utterance to, and authoritatively to

teach, that truth which is Christ Himself, and also to declare and

confirm by her authority those principles of the moral order which

have their origins in human nature itself. Furthermore, let

Christians walk in wisdom in the face of those outside, “in the

Holy Spirit, in unaffected love, in the word of truth” (2 Cor. 6:6-7),

and let them be about their task of spreading the light of life with

all confidence 36 and apostolic courage, even to the shedding of

their blood.

The disciple is bound by a grave obligation toward Christ, his

Master, ever more fully to understand the truth received from

Him, faithfully to proclaim it, and vigorously to defend it, never

—

be it understood—having recourse to means that are incompatible
with the spirit of the Gospel. At the same time, the charity of Christ

urges him to love, prudence and patience in his dealings with

those who are in error or in ignorance with regard to the faith. 37

13



All is to be taken into account—the Christian duty to Christ,
the life-giving Word which must be proclaimed, the rights of
the human person, and the measure of grace granted by God
through Christ to men who are invited freely to accept and profess
the faith.

15. The fact is that men of the present day want to be able

freely to profess their religion in private and in public. Indeed,

religious freedom has already been declared to be a civil right in

most constitutions, and it is solemnly recognized in international

documents. 38 The further fact is that forms of government still

exist under which, even though freedom of religious worship re-

ceives constitutional recognition, the powers of government are

engaged in the effort to deter citizens from the profession of re-

ligion and to make life very difficult and dangerous for religious

communities.

This Council greets with joy the first of these two facts as

among the signs of the times. With sorrow, however, it denounces

the other fact, as only to be deplored. The Council exhorts

Catholics, and it directs a plea to all men, most carefully to con-

sider how greatly necessary religious freedom is, especially in the

present condition of the human family. All nations are coming into

ever closer unity. Men of different cultures and religions are being
brought together in closer relationships. There is a growing con-

sciousness of the personal responsibility that every man has. All

this is evident. Consequently, in order that relationships of peace

and harmony be established and maintained within the whole of

mankind, it is necessary that religious freedom be everywhere pro-

vided with an effective constitutional guarantee and that respect be

shown for the high duty and right of man freely to lead his religious

life in society.

May the God and Father of all grant that the human family,
through careful observance of the principle of religious freedom in

society, may be brought by the grace of Christ and the power of the

14



Holy Spirit to the sublime and unending and “glorious freedom of

the sons of God” (Rom. 8:21).

+ + + +
The entire text and all the individual elements which have been

set forth in this Declaration have pleased the Fathers. And by the
Apostolic power conferred on us by Christ, we, together with the

Venerable Fathers, in the Holy Spirit, approve, decree and enact

them; and we order that what has been thus enacted in Council be
promulgated, to the glory of God.

Rome, at St. Peter’s, 7 December, 1965

I, PAUL, Bishop of the Catholic Church

There follow the signatures of the Fathers.

15



Notes
1 Cf . John XXIII, Encyclical Letter, Pacem in Terris, April 11, 1963:

AAS 55 (1963), p. 279; ibid., p. 265; Pius XII, Radio Message, Dec. 24,
1944: AAS 37 (1945), p. 14.

2
Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter, Pacem in Terris, April 11, 1963:

AAS 55 (1963), pp. 260-261; Pius XII, Radio Message, Dec. 24, 1942:
AAS 35 (1943), p. 19; Pius XI, Encyclical Epistle, Mit Brennender Sorge,
March 14, 1937: AAS 29 (1937), p. 160; Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter, Liber-
tas Praestantissimum, June 20, 1888: Acts of Leo XIII 8 (1888), pp. 237-238.

3 Cf . John XXIII, Encyclical Letter, Pacem in Terris, April 11, 1963:
AAS 55 (1963), p. 270; Paul VI, Radio Message, Dec. 22, 1964: AAS 57
(1965), pp. 181-182.

4
Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter, Mater et Magistra, May 15, 1961:

AAS 53 (1961), p. 417; idem, Encyclical Letter, Pacem in Terris, April 11,
1963: AAS 55 (1963), p. 273.

5 Cf . John XXIII, Encyclical Letter, Pacem in Terris, April 11, 1963:
AAS 55 (1963), pp. 273-274; Pius XII, Radio Message, June 1, 1941: AAS
33 (1941), p. 200.

18 (1885), p. 161.
6 Cf. Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter, Immortale Dei, Nov. 1, 1885; AAS
7
Cf. CIC, c. 1351; Pius XII, allocution to prelate auditors and other

officials and administrators of the tribune of the Holy Roman Rota, Oct. 6,
1946: AAS 38 (1946), p. 394; idem. Encyclical Letter, Mystici Corporis,
June 29, 1943: AAS (1943), p. 243.

8
Cf. Lactantius Divinarum Institutionum, Book V, 19: CSEL 19,

pp. 463-464, 465: PL 6, 614 and 616 (ch. 20); St. Ambrose, Epistola ad
Valentianum Imp., Letter 21: PL 16, 1005; St. Augustine, Contra Litteras
Petiliani, Book II, ch. 83: CSEL 52, p. 112: PL 43, 315; cf. C. 23, q. 5,
c. 33, (ed. Friedberg, col. 939); idem, Letter 23: PL 33, 98; idem, Letter 34:
PL 33, 132; idem, Letter 35: PL 33, 135; St. Gregory the Great, Epistola
ad Virgilium et Theodorum Episcopos Massiliae Galliarum, Register of
Letters I, 45: MGH Ep. 1, p. 72: PL 77, 510-511 (Book I, ep. 47); idem,
Epistola ad Johannem Episcopum Constantinopolitanum, Register of Letters,
III, 52: MGH Letter 1, p. 210: PL 77, 649 (Book III, Letter 53); cf. D. 45, c. 1
(ed. Friedberg, col. 160); Council of Toledo IV, c. 57; Mansi 10, 633; cf. D.
45, c. 5 (ed. Friedberg, col. 161-162); Clement III: X., V, 6,9 (ed. Fried-
berg, col. 774); Innocent III, Epistola ad Arelatensem Archiepiscopum, X.,
Ill, 42,3 (ed. Friedberg, col. 646).

9
Cf. Eph. 1:5.

10
Cf. John 6:44.

11
Cf. John 13:13.

12
Cf. Matt. 11:29.

13
Cf. Matt. 11:28-30; John 6:67-68.

14
Cf. Matt. 9:28-29; Mark 9:23-24; 6:5-6; Paul VI, Encyclical Letter,

Ecclesiam Suam, Aug. 6, 1964: AAS 56 (1964), pp. 642-643.
15

Cf. Matt. 11:20-24; Rom. 12:19-20; 2 Thes. 1:8.
16

Cf. Matt. 13:30 and 40-42.
17

Cf. Matt. 4:8-10; John 6:15.
18

Cf. Is. 42:1-4.

16



19
Cf. John 18:37.

20
Cf. Matt. 26:51-53; John 18:36.

21
Cf. John 12:32.

22
Cf. 1 Cor. 2:3-5; 1 Thes. 2:3-5.

23
Cf. Rom. 14:1-23; 1 Cor. 8:9-13; 10:23-33.

24
Cf. Eph. 6:19-20.

26
Cf. Rom. 1:16.

26
Cf. 2 Cor. 10:4; 1 Thes. 5:8-9.

27
Cf. Eph. 6:11-17.

28
Cf. 2 Cor. 10:3-5.

29
Cf. 1 Pet. 2:13-17.

30
Cf. Acts 4:19-20.

31
Cf. Leo XIII, Encyclical Epistle, Officio Sanctissimo, Dec. 22, 1887:

AAS 20 (1887), p. 269; idem, letter, Ex Litteris, April 7, 1887: AAS 19
(1886), p. 465.

32
Cf. Mark 16:15; Matt. 28:18-20; Pius XII, Encyclical Letter, Summi

Pontificatus, Oct. 20, 1939: AAS 31 (1939), pp. 445-446.
33

Cf. Pius XI, Encyclical Epistle, Firmissimam Constantiam, March 28,
1937: AAS 29 (1937), p. 196.

34
Cf. Pius XII, allocution, Ci Riesce, Dec. 6, 1953: AAS 45 (1953),

p. 802.
35

Cf. Pius XII, Radio Message, March 23, 1952: AAS 44 (1952), pp.
270-278.

36
Cf. Acts 4:29.

37
Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter, Pacem in Terris, April 11, 1963:

AAS 55 (1963), pp. 299-300.
38

Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter, Pacem in Terris, April 11, 1963:
AAS 55 (1963), pp. 295-296.

17



Prepared by Joseph W. Sprug
Librarian, Loretto Heights College, Loretto, Colorado

(Numbers in parenthesis are paragraph numbers; other numbers are
page numbers)

Apostles:

coercion and conversion, 10
witnesses to truth, 11

Assent:
adherence to truth, 4

Authority:
obedience to lawful, 8(8)
refusal to submit to, 8(8)

Catholic Church:
one true religion subsists in, 2

Christian life:

Christians as witnesses, 13

duty: fuller understanding of
truth, 13

prudence and patience in dealing
with others, 13

Christianity:

freedom to embrace, 9(10)
Church

:

prayers for success of mission
of, 13

teacher of truth, 13
Church and state:

civil recognition of one com-
munity, 7

conditions favorable for religious
life, 7

freedom in care for salvation of
men, 12(13)

freedom of the Church as spirit-
ual authority, 12

freedom of the Church the fun-
damental principle, 12

freedom to exercise duty of
preaching, 12

imposition or repudiation of any
religion, 7

independence of the Church, 13
religious liberty and the common

welfare, 4-5

right and fact of liberty, 12
tribute to Caesar, 10

(see also Religious liberty)

Church property:
religious liberty, 5

Coercion

:

in conversion work, 10
excluded from religious matters,

9(10), 12
Jesus Christ and, 10

religious practices, 5

Common welfare, see Common
good; Public welfare.

Community life:
religious freedom and, 8(8)

Conduct of life:
order in accord with truth, 3

Conscience:
divine law, 4
formation: attend doctrine of

the Church, 13
formation of true judgments, 4
man bound to serve God, 9(11)
obligations re true religion, 2
(see also Liberty of conscience)

Constitutional law:
religious freedom in, 3

Conversion work:
coercion and the Apostles, 10

Dignity:

foundation of religious freedom,

3, 8(9)
free will, responsibility, truth, 3

God and religion, 9(11)
increasing sense of, 1

religious liberty, 11(12)
revelation, 9

truth and, 4

wider recognition of, 12

Discrimination:

not to exist, 7

Divine law. see Law, Divine.

Education and state:
right to free choice of schools,

6(5)
Equality:

religious liberty, 7



Faith:

act of, a free act, 9(10)
act of, and religious freedom, 9
coercion opposed to, 12
free human response to God,

9(10)
Family:

religious liberty in, 6(5)
Free will:

dignity, 3

Freedom:
abuse of, 8(8)
responsible; sense of duty, 1
usages of society, 8

( see also Liberty)
Freedom of religion, see Religious

liberty.

Government, see State.
Grace:

Christian life, 14

Jesus Christ:

coercion not used by, 10
freedom of religion and, 9
government’s rights recognized

by, 10
master; meekness, 10

Justice:

in human relations, 7(7)
religion and society, 7

Law, Constitutional, see Consti-
tutional law.

Law, Divine:
conscience and, 4
highest norm of life, 3(3)
man’s participation in, 3(3)

Liberty

:

constitutional limits on powers
of government, 1

personal and social responsibility
in, 7(7)

(see also Coercion; Freedom)
Liberty of conscience:

a civil right, 13

freedom to follow. 4
Liberty of religion, see Religious

liberty.

Life, Conduct of. see Conduct of
life.

Man:
dignity of. see Dignity.

Martyrs:
as witnesses, 11

Ministers:

religious liberty, 5

Moral order:
Church as teacher, 13
respect for, 8(8)

^Non Christians:
charity in dealings with, 13

Obedience:
making light of duty of, 8(8)

Order, see Moral order; Social
order.

Organizations:
religious liberty in establishment

of, 6

Parents:

rights in religious education of

children, 6(5)
Peace:

religion and society, 7
result of order and justice, 8

Perfection

:

common welfare, 6(6)
Persecution:

government attempts to destroy
religion, 7

life made difficult for religious
communities, 14

Preaching:
religious liberty, 12

Public welfare:

basic component of, 8
social conditions for, 6(6)

Religion:

acts transcend temporal affairs, 4
binding in conscience, 9(11)
coercion excluded from, 9(10)
external expression of internal

acts, 4
obligation to seek the true, 2

social value, 7

way to serve God revealed, 2
Religion and state, see Church and

state; Religious liberty.

Religions:

free selection, etc., of ministers,

5

rights of communities, 5
Religious education:

rights of parents, 6(5)
Religious liberty:

buildings and properties, 5
care of right to, 6(6)
communicating abroad, 5



communities free to show their
values, 6

constitutional law, 3, 13

denial of, an injury to the human
person, 4

dignity as foundation of, 3, 8(9)
effective constitutional guarantee

necessary, 14
equality of citizens, 7

establishment of organizations, 6
exercise subject to norms, 7(7)
faithfulness to the Gospel, 1

1

( 12 )
family rights, 6(5)
free act of faith, 9

free acts according to conscience,
4

free exercise of religion, 1

free profession in public and pri-
vate, 14

government, duty to protect, 6(6)
immunity from civil coercion, 2
immunity in state of indiffer-

ence, 3

international documents; recog-
nition, 14

Jesus Christ, 9

meaning; application, 2(2)
meetings, 6

necessity, 14

personal right to, 2(2)
practice of religion in society, 12

public teaching by communities,
5

purpose; community aspect, 8(8)
religious communities, 5
right of society to defend against

abuses, 8

sincere and practical application
of, 12

( see also Church and state)

Religious practice:
coercion in, 5

Religious truth, see Religion;
Truth.

Responsibility:

dignity, 3

in exercise of rights, 7(7)
growing consciousness of, 14

Revelation:

religious freedom in, 9
Rights:

juridical norms of government
action, 8

protection and promotion by
government, 6(6)

respects for rights of others,

7(7)

Social order:

meaning of, 8
Society

:

usages related to freedom, 8
State, The:

protection of human rights, 6(6)
(see also Education and state;
Church and state)

Truth:
assent to, 4
assisting others in quest of, 4
Christ and use of force, 10
duty to seek, 3(3)
establishment; force, 10

imposing itself on the mind, 2
life ordered in accord with, 3
seeking related to dignity, 4
unchanging, 3(3)

Unity:
international, 14

Values:
freedom in quest for, 1