Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 354 – Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 354 - Part II. Can people be forced to believe in God?

(Youcat answer - repeated) No. No one may force others to believe, not even one’s own children, just as no one may be forced to be an unbeliever. A person can make the decision to believe only in complete freedom. Christians, however, are called to help other people, by word and example, to find the way to faith.    

A deepening through CCC

(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).    

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Pope John Paul II said, “Proclaiming Christ and bearing witness to him, when done in a way that respects consciences, does not violate freedom. Faith demands a free adherence on the part of man, but at the same time faith must also be offered to him” (Encyclical Redemptoris missio, 1990, no. 8).

(CCC Comment)

(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).       

(The next question is: You shall not have strange Gods before me.” What does that mean?)