Religious freedom means an obligation to seek truth, speakers say

Published: 2005-12-12

ROME (CNS) -- The religious freedom espoused by the Second Vatican Council reflects a feeling that everyone has an obligation to seek the truth, said speakers at a Rome conference. Kevin Hasson, founder of the U.S.-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and organizer of the Dec. 10 conference at Rome's Gregorian University, said that 40 years ago it was controversial for a Catholic to say a right to religious liberty existed. "Now the controversy is not over whether it exists but over 'why' it exists," he said. "Many people say it is because you cannot know the truth or because nobody has the truth. Relativism is the reigning reason for religious liberty today." The Second Vatican Council's document on religious freedom, "Dignitatis Humanae," says truth exists and people have an obligation to seek it, he said.

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