444. In what way does a person exercise his or her proper right to worship God in truth and in freedom? (part 2 continuation)
(Comp 444 repetition) Every person has
the right and the moral duty to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God
and his Church. Once the truth is known,
each person he has the right and moral duty to embrace it, to guard it
faithfully and to render God authentic worship. At the same time, the dignity
of the human person requires that in religious matters no one may be forced to
act against conscience nor be restrained, within the just limits of public
order, from acting in conformity with conscience, privately or publicly, alone
or in association with others.
“In brief”
(CCC 2137) "Men of the
present day want to profess their religion freely in private and in
public" (DH 15).
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 2106) "Nobody may be forced to act against his
convictions, nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his
conscience in religious matters in private or in public, alone or in
association with others, within due limits" (DH 2 § 1). This right is based
on the very nature of the human person, whose dignity enables him freely to
assent to the divine truth which transcends the temporal order. For this reason
it "continues to exist even in those who do not live up to their
obligation of seeking the truth and adhering to it" (DH 2 § 2). (CCC 2107)
"If because of the circumstances of a particular people special civil
recognition is given to one religious community in the constitutional
organization of a state, the right of all citizens and religious communities to
religious freedom must be recognized and respected as well" (DH 6 § 3).
Reflection
(CCC 2108) The right to religious liberty is neither a moral
license to adhere to error, nor a supposed right to error (Cf. Leo XIII, Libertas praestantissimum 18; Pius XII
AAS 1953, 799), but rather a natural right of the human person to civil
liberty, i.e., immunity, within just limits, from external constraint in
religious matters by political authorities. This natural right ought to be
acknowledged in the juridical order of society in such a way that it
constitutes a civil right (Cf. DH 2). (CCC 2109) The right to religious liberty
can of itself be neither unlimited nor limited only by a "public
order" conceived in a positivist or naturalist manner (Cf. Pius VI, Quod aliquantum (1791) 10; Pius IX, Quanta cura 3). The "due
limits" which are inherent in it must be determined for each social
situation by political prudence, according to the requirements of the common
good, and ratified by the civil authority in accordance with "legal
principles which are in conformity with the objective moral order" (DH 7 §
3). [END]
No comments:
Post a Comment