A paradigmatic change: Religious Liberty from Alfredo Ottaviani to Dignitatis humanae

Abstract

There is no human right that has been as controversial as religious liberty. While it is but a consequence of the existing pluralism in society which today is recognised by the most advanced States and communities of States as forming the practical and theoretical basis for all political institutions, Islamic countries still reject what they consider simply a Judeo-Christian tradition; and the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam of 1990 subjects all the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration to the Islamic Sharia. The essential flaw of this position consists in that it regards religious liberty not a liberty of man but a liberty of truth. And since Islam is considered to be the religion of true unspoiled nature it is concluded that there cannot exist any human right that is not supported by, or even runs counter to, Islamic doctrine. Until this approach is overcome, there will not be true religious liberty in Islamic countries. That it is possible, for a religious community that claims to be the keeper of religious truth, to overcome such an approach has been demonstrated in an exemplary manner by the Catholic Church. Papal teaching and ecclesiastical doctrine before the Second Vatican Council maintained a position not unsimilar to that of the Cairo Declaration, arguing that error cannot claim the same right as truth. It was only the Council’s Declaration on Religious Liberty Dignitatis humanae of 1965 that brought about a radical change by recognising that religious liberty is a liberty of man deriving from his dignity as a free person and – as all human rights – not subject to any other restrictions than those which are necessary to protect the same rights and liberties of others. The position taken by the Second Vatican Council can serve as a model for overcoming the traditional approach of religions and/or religious institutions and “religious” States towards freedom of religion.