Affirming Religious Freedom

Vatican II adopted an approach to religious liberty based on affirming the human dignity of the religious believer. Speaking through the Council, the Church teaches that "the human person has a right to religious freedom." "All men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of every human power in such wise that no one is to be forced to act contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, within due limits."