This paper provides an overview of the development history of the Vatican II conciliar document that would eventually be promulgated as the "Declaration on Religious Freedom: Dignitatis Humanae", highlighting the theological and doctrinal... more
This paper provides an overview of the development history of the Vatican II conciliar document that would eventually be promulgated as the "Declaration on Religious Freedom: Dignitatis Humanae", highlighting the theological and doctrinal concerns raised by the document, which were centered on the Church's understanding of the idea of religious liberty, and demonstrating that the concept of human dignity emerged as the locus of that understanding, providing a ground for the Church to re‐define her relationship to the state in the "secularized" environment of modernity, while retaining her a priori commitment to the integrity of the relationship between freedom (liberty) and truth. The paper also provides a summary of the major elements of the Declaration as promulgated. Approximately 4,000 words.
