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Dignitatis humanae[a] (Of the Dignity of the Human Person) is the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom.[1] In the context of the council's stated intention "to develop the doctrine of recent popes on the inviolable rights of the human person and the constitutional order of society", Dignitatis humanae spells out the church's support for the protection of religious liberty. It set the ground rules by which the church would relate to secular states.
The passage of this measure by a vote of 2,308 to 70 is considered by many to be one of the most significant events of the council.[2] This declaration was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on December 7, 1965.
Dignitatis humanae became one of the key points of dispute between the Vatican and traditionalist Catholics such as Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre who argued that the council document was incompatible with previous authoritatively stated Catholic teaching.
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- ^ The full text of a translation into English is available from the Holy See's website Archived February 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Thus, during the final vote on the morning of December 7 (when the fathers had to choose between a simple approval or disapproval of the last draft), Lefebvre was one of the 70 — about 3 percent of the total — who voted against the schema." Marcel Lefebvre: Signatory to Dignitatis humanae, by Brian Harrison