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PAGE 2 GEORGIA BULLETED THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1964
PRESS SUMtARY
Commentary On Religious Liberty Text
The revised text ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY comprises five pages
and an appendix to the schema DE ECUMENISMO with the indica
tion DECLARATIO I, along with another DECLARATIO II, de
aling with the Jews and non-Christians. The declaration on re
ligious liberty is accompanied by five pages of Notes, a relatio,
and a brief summary. The text was transmitted to the council
Fathers on April 27, 1964.
The genesis of the amended text on religious liberty.
In the second session of the council, on Nov. 19, 1963, the
Fathers were given the fascicule on religious liberty as chapter
5 of the schema “De Ecumenismo," and in the 70th general
congregation held on that same day, Bishop DeSmedt, of Bruges,
member of the Secretariat for Christian Unity, read to the
council an explanatory and introductory relatio. Conflicting
opinions were immediately evident among the council Fathers,
ranging from enthusiasm to serve criticism. The text was not
brought up for discussion on the council floor for want of suffi
cient time.
Up .to Feb. 27, 1964, the Secretariat for Christian Unity ac
cepted observations from the council Fathers and incorporated
them into a volume of some 280 pages. Some of the Fathers
wanted the text on religious liberty incorporated into the
schema of ecumenism, inasmuch as the recognition of relig
ious liberty forms part of the foundation of ecumenism. Ac
cording to certain other Fathers , however, the text in ques
tion should constitute a distinct chapter of the schema, treat
ing of the basic principles of ecumenism. Lastly, others pro
posed the presentation of the subject as a decree distinct from
that on ecumenism, considering the fact that, notwithstanding
its ecumenical importance, the subject matter exceeds the limits
of ecumenism strictly so called.
The text was amended by the Secretariat for Christian Unity
according to the recommendations made by many of the Fathers,
but its great importance did not permit it to be compressed
into such compact form as would have permitted its insertion
into chapter I of the schema on ecumenism. Thus, according
to the desire expressed by the Coordinating Commission in
its meeting of April 18, 1964, the text on religious liberty,
like that on the Jews and non-Christians, is now .Submitted to>
the council as a "declaration** distinct from, but annexed to
the schema on ecumenism.
The criteria followed in the revision of the text.
After a careful study of all the observations sent in by the
council Fathers concerning the revision of the text, the Secre
tariat for Christian Unity saw fit to retain five principal
points.
a) A clearer expression of the concept of religious liberty.
The purpose of this clarification is to forestall any fallacious
or equivocal interpretations of the text. Consequently, at the
very beginning of the new text, an additional paragraph ex
plains the exact significance of the concept of "religious li
berty". A distinction must be made between freedom as far
as relations with God are concerned, and freedom in relations
with men. The text is concerned exclusively with religious li
berty in relation with other men. considered either as indivi
duals (or) as members of religious groups. The foundation
of these rights comes from the very serious obligation of res
pecting human dignity and following the law of God according
to the dictates of a conscience sincerely formed. Freedom to
follow one’s own religious conscience is the greatest advan
tage of every person and for this reason it is a stritly personal
right in social association, and there must be respect for free
dom for following the call of God, in which we behold the peak
of the dignity of the human person.
b) Explicit indications of the rights of religious groups.
To these groups is recognized authentic religious liberty in
those things which develop spiritual life among men.
c) A better explanation of the principle by which our rights
can be restricted.
The aim of society is the complexus of those conditions of
social life which aid men to achieve themorefully and the more
expeditiously the perfection at which they are aiming. It is thus
the duty of public authority In matters of religion to reconcile
and to harmonize among themselves the exercise of the rights to
both, in such wise that the exercise of the rights of one group
will not constitute an obstacle to the exercise of the rights of
the other.
A distinction must also be made between the right to propa
gate sincerely and honestly one's own religion and the abuses
of this right when dishonest means are employed in religious
propaganda.
d) Emphasis on the objective truth of the Divine Law with all
its exigencies.
This is done in such a way as to exclude all danger of sub
jectivism and indifferentism.
e) Present-day cricumstances confirm the necessity and the
rights of religous liberty.
The urgency of this problem becomes all the more evident
because of the closer bonds created among men of diverse cul
tures and religions, along with the increased consciousness of
personal responsibility, with the evolution of the juridical stru
ctures of civil institutions.
SUMMARY OF THE DECLARATION OF RELIGOUS LIBERTY
The numbering of the articles follows that of the schema on
ecumenism, which comprises 24 numbers. Hence the articles
of this declaration begin with No. 25.
rity favors contacts among Christians. This emphasized its
ecumenical aspect.
No. 26 - The nature of religious liberty.
a) Its foundation: In the religious field, it is both a duty and an
honor for man to follow the will of God, according to the dictates
of conscience. This is the very root of the right to religious
libergy.
b) The right to religious liberty in society puts men in a posi
tion to be able to practice privately and publicly their own re
ligion, and no restriction must be placed on this religious pra
ctice.
c) Religious liberty demands that there should be established
in society the conditions required to guarantee it.
d) The council, in its affirmation of man's dependence on God,
proclaims that religious liberty in “society must be recognized
and respected by all and everywhere.
No. 27 - The task of the Church.
A ccording to the mandate received from the Lord, the Church
propagates the Word of God and prays for the salvation of all
men, exhorting her own children to spread the life-giving
light of the Gospel.
No. 28 - No one can be forced to embrace the Faith.
With love, prudence and patience, in accordance with the ways
of God, contact Is established with those who do not have the
true Faith. But all coercion, direct or indirect, is to be ex
cluded from the preaching of the Truth, because according to the
traditional norm of the Church, based on the very nature of the
act of Faith, the acceptance of Faith must be fully free.
No. 29 - The religious liberty of the Individual in human society.
In human society, religious liberty is to be respected not only
by Christians and for Christians, but by all and for all— per
sons, individuals, and religious groups.
Freedom to follow God’s call is the peak of human dignity,
and consequently this liberty in social co-existence is a right in
the truest sense of the term, and is the foundation and safe
guard of other freedoms.
The objective, absolute and universal Divine Law is the norm
of our relationships with God, whence there derives man’s obli
gation to acquire diligently the knowledge of this law. But man
can follow the forms for him self under the guidance of prudence.
In sincere obedience to conscience, a man implicitly obeys God.
If, in his attempts to know the Will of God, a man falls into an
erroneous interpretation of that Will, no man and no power has
the right to induce him to act conrary to the dictate of his
conscience.
No. 25 - The consideration of the problem of religious libe- An essential element of religious liberty is the right to prac-
PRIEST OBSERVER
Troubled Vietnam Shows
Red Influences At Work
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
forms of agitation to synchro
nize with the Viet Cong mili
tary effort, have one common
aim—to bring about a neutra
list government in South Viet
nam. From nuetralism the pas
sage will be e asy to unifica
tion of industrial rice-hungry
north Vietnam vith the fertile
south, under communist rule.
It takes no extraordinary eye
sight to see the links between
the different parts of this con
certed movement.
THE 25-year-old "press of
ficer" of the students who cla
mored against Prime Minister
Gen. Nguyen Khanh’s govern
ment of Aug. 25 showed up as
press officer of a Buddhist or
ganizing committee the fol
lowing week. Demonstrating
students look directions, by
messenger, from a bonze.
Dr. Le JChac Quyen, dean of
the faculty of medicine in Hue
University and a few fellow-
professors set up a "People’s
Committee for National Salva
tion" in Hue and sent paid stu
dents out to organize it in
other provincial centers. The
Hue committee denounced and
defined the government. In Dan-
ang, Qui Nhon and Hha Trang
the committees, in soviet fas
hion, arrogated to themselves
the powers of local authorities.
THESE committees, Buddhist
demagogues and the Saigon pa
pers that they reportedly sub
sidize have lately been promot
ing a witch hunt a gainst former
members of the Can Lao Nhan
Vi (Personalist Labor) party
of the late Ngo dinah Nhu.
Last winter and spring nobody
seemed to think the "Can Lao
remnants" dangerous. The pre
sent campaign, artificially
stimulated and unsupported by
hard evidence, la simply a drive
to eliminate anticommunists,
especially Catholics, from pub
lic life.
r>ut in Turn M*a*’*
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In Qui Nhon, for instance,
this illegal committee arrest
ed or enforced the arrest
of 23 persons on Sept. 20
and ensuing days. These per
sons, almost all Catholics, had
apparently nothing against them
until the soviet-style committee
arrived to dictate to complaint
local officilas. "The Catholics
working around here are terri
fied," one Qui Nhon resident
reported.
THE leader of these
"People’s Committees," Dr.
Le Khac Quyen, has a reputa
tion as a leftist. He and his
colleagues publish the antigo-
vemment weekly review, Lap
Truong (Viewpoint), for which
the anti-Catholic, anti-Ameri
can, neutralist bonze, Thich Tri
Quang, has written.
Dr. Quyen’s group also pub
lish a small daily political
sheet, significantly named
Thanh Dau (Struggle), Their
student followers—many uni
versity students in Hue are
strongly opposed to them—
publish a paper entitled Luc
Lu’ong, meaning Force.
DR. Quyen and a colleague,
editor of Lap Truong, have been
named t o the 17-member
High National Council created to
form a new government.
The official Buddhist week
ly, Hai Trieu Am (Sound of the
Tide) on Sept. 3 published
an appeal to "our compatriots
of the Liberation Front," that
is, the communist Viet Cong,
and to the Vietnamese army
and "our American friends,"
for a lessening of bloodshed.
It seemed to put both sides
pn a par while Implying that
the Buddhists are a third
party, during this tragic war
fare in which their country is
defending itself, and religious
freedom, against communist
aggression.
"WE represent the Buddhist
Unified Church and we are col
lecting for it," said the young
men calling at a Buddhist home
in Saigon. "We are striving
for neutralism. That’s the only
way to end the war. But first,
the Americans must leave. . ."
The Buddhist householder
was indignant. Many Buddhists,
like her, disapprove strongly
of the political bonzes and their
maneuvers.
THE communist Viet Cong,
the "liberation Front," an
nounce that they are fighting for
a "neutralist" South Vietnam.
The radio of the communist
government in Hanoi, capital
of North Vietnam, espouses the
"Liberation Front" and its
publicity. The "Front," that is,
the Viet Cong, maintains re
lations with Peking and Estern
European communist states.
Its soldiers are equipped with
Russian, Czech and Chinese
weapons.
More than 20 years ago the
Vietnamese communists adopt
ed the technique of selling their
policies under fraudulent la
bels. In 1941 they formed the
Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh
Hoi, Vietnam Independence Le
ague (shortened to Viet Minh),
an apparently nationalist move
ment which they used for their
own ends. In 1945 they "dis
solved" the Communist party,
which reappeared and still lives
as the Lao Dong, "Labor,"
party.
Knights Reelect
National Staff
NEW YORK (NC>—The board
of directors of the Knights of
Columbus at their quarterly
meeting here reelected the na
tional officers of the Catholic
men’s fraternal society for
one-year terms.
Reelected were: Supreme
Knight John W. McDevitt of
Malden, Mass,; Deputy Supreme
Knight Dr, John H. Griffen of
Hughesville, Md.; Supreme
Treasurer Francis J. Heazel
of Asheville, N.C,; Supreme
Advocate Harold J, Lamboley of
Monroe, Wis,; Supreme Chap
lain Bishop Charles P. Greco
of Alexandria, La,; Supreme
Physician Dr. Gerald J. Lunz
of Hamilton, Ont.; Supreme
Warden Edward J, Bell of Stay-
ton, Ore,; and Assistant Su
preme Secretary Charles J,
Ducey of Hamden, Conn,
SAN FRANCISCO’S St. Mary’s Cathedral plan has been modified to gain more unified,
smooth-flowing lines. Model above shows entire Cathedral complex, with new St. Vin
cent’s high school in center foreground, flanked on right by parish rectory and on left by
convent of Daughters of Charity. The new Cathedral will stand in center of a 16-square-
block redevelopment area.
UPHOLDS PIUS XII
Reaffirms Right Of Unborn
VATICAN errY (RNS)—Pope
Paul VI reaffirmed the teach
ing of Pope Pius XII that the di
rect killing of an unborn child
to save the life of the mother
is morally wrong.
The pontiff discussed this
"fundamental point" in a talk
in English to members of the
New England Obstetrical and
Gynecological Society who were
received in audience at the
Apostolic Palace,
"INNOCENT human life, no
matter in what condition it may
be, is, from the first instant of
its existence," he said, "to be
secure from every direct vol
untary attack. This is the funda
mental right of the human per
son and this principle is valid
for the life of the life of the
child as it is valid for the life
of the mother,"
The Pope added that "we are
well aware of the greatness and
complexity of problems con
nected with these principles and
we cherish the hope that your
studies, your experience and
your conscience will be able to
contribute to their proper ap
plication for the good of man
kind and the greater honor of
your profession,"
POPE Pius XII, in November,
1951, told the Italian National
Congress of the Family Front
that "never, and in no case,
had the Church taught that the
life of the child must be pre
ferred to that of the mother."
But he added that if it was
impossible to save both, "noth
ing remains" but to "bow re
spectfully before the laws of
nature and the dispositions of
divine providence."
IN welcoming the New Eng
land group, Pope Paul said "this
Families Assist
Farm Migrants
NYSSA, Ore. (NC)~ Five Cath-
olic families spent their sum
mer vacations giving religious
instruction to the children of
Spanish-speaking migrant farm
workers in area migrant camps.
The families, all associated
with the Portland, Ore., Chris
tian Family Movement, general
ly spent two weeks each at the
camps in a program that ex
tended over two months.
tic« one's religion publicly. Hence the Church proclaims
not only the right to one’s opinion and freedom to practice the
rites of one’s own religion, but also an individual’s genuine
right to observe and to witness his private and public worship
before God and men, whether individuals or groups, and to
organize according to the precepts of his religion the whole of
his own individual, family, educational, cultural, social and chari
table life.
The exercise of this right must be adapted to the exigencies
of the social nature of man. Hence it can be subject to restric
tions. But it can be restricted legitimately only when it is in
grave conflict with the end of society. Consequently, it is un
lawful for state authorities to discriminate in any way against
religion. It is , on the contrary, their duty to protect and
encourage religious liberty.
No. 30 - The freedom of religious groups in social co-exis-
tence.
Men have the right of free assembly in groups, which groups
in turn, within the limits determined by the end of society, have
the right to govern themselves according to their own laws, to
honor God with public worship, to assist their members In their
religious life, and to create institutions of social character
based on religious principles.
The Catholic Church expects from state authorities a recogni
tion of the right of religious liberty in social co-existence..
Any violent oppression of religion itself or of the religion of
a determined religious group is in opposition with the Divine
Will and with human rights.
Religous grops are entitled to carry on sincere and honest
propagation of their religion, but they must refrain from any
"proselytism" which would employ dishonest means.
Civil authorities have no direct power to regulate the relation
ships of their citizens with God. Consequently, they may not
subject religious groups to the temporal aims of the state. On
the contrary, it contributes to the common welfare when con
ditions are created which will favor religious life.
No. 31 - Religious life in the world today.
Today in particular, the problem of religious liberty Is of grea
ter urgency because of the more extended contacts which exist
between men of different cultures and different religions, be
cause of an increased consciousness of personal responsibi
lity, because of the juridical organization of today’s civil order-
all of which set off in a clearer light the incompetence of the
state to establish itself as a judge of religious truth.
There can be no peaceful co-existence in the human family in
the world today without religious liberty in society.
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personal meeting gives rise to
thoughts of the delicacy, the
gravity and the dignity of your
profession, tied up as it is with
the care and protection of hu
man life at its biological foun
tainhead, where it merges with
that ontological fountain which
springs forth from the creating
hands of God,"
* We render homage," the
Pope continued, "to your ser
vice for the good of mankind
during the secret and sacred
phase of maternity, when wo
man, the mother, fulfills her
highest mission and ismostde-
serving of reverence and care,
especially when the seed of the
new life is weakest and most in
need of recognition, defense and
help in attaining its natural full
ness and perfection.
"WE ARE certain that the
consciousness of your profes
sional function will illuminate
and guide your skilful medical
art and that in the exercise of
your practice, you will always
recall the principles of ethics
which Christian morals raise tc
their most exigent expression,
particularly when it is the mat
ter of defending the life of each
human being,"
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