dcdurel:
It is an ambigous statement, by itself, which needs clarification.
In relationship to God, of course not. No one has a moral right before God to reject the religion He founded and instead embrace man-made religions.
In relationship to the state, absolutely YES. No goverment has the right to force us to follow a particular religion.
This teaching from the syllabus of errors is used by dissidents, both on the right and left to say the Church changed her teachings in Vatican II
That is false. The original statement was in reference to our relationship with God. Vatican II was in reference to the state.
Two different subjects.
dcdurel seems to be saying that governments MUST grant religious liberty to its constituents even if it’s a Catholic government, but that between God and man, man does NOT have the right to follow any religion.
mosher:
I said no but really it is a qualified yes. A person can profess whatever faith he feels is true but the state is not required to guarantee him that right. Lumen Gentium speaks about religious freedom but in reading the commentary (Vorgrimler Commentaries) on the issue made by the current Pope who was a Bishop then states that in a Catholic country it is not necessary that religious freedom be granted because it is not necessary for a Catholic Country to tolerate the error of other religions.
mosher seems to be saying that governments need NOT grant religious liberty to its constituents if it’s a Catholic government, but that between God and man, man DOES have the right to follow any religion.
What does the Church teach? The interpretations above seem to be exact opposites. I was thinking more along the lines of dcdurel because we do NOT have the freedom to follow whichever religion we want. I get this idea not only from the condemned statement in the Syllabus but also JP2’s and B16’s definitions of freedom.
“Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” -Pope John Paul II
“…freedom is not simply about enjoying life in total autonomy, but rather about living by the measure of truth and goodness, so that we ourselves can become true and good.” -Pope Benedict XVI
If we do have the right to do what we ought, then we don’t have the right to do what we shouldn’t (ie. - women don’t have the right to abort their children). This should also apply to our religion. There is only ONE religion that all men ought to follow. The only religion men are free to follow is Catholicism. Now, being that Christianity is a proposition (as compared to Islam which is an imposition), no person or government can
force someone to be Catholic. This is also backed up historically because the Church has never forced anyone to be Catholic. Well, that’s my attempt at reconciling the Syllabus and the V2 documents. Someone correct me if I’m way off base.
