A Kazakh prelate best known for his support for the Church’s liturgical tradition said in an interview that Dignitatis Humanae, the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Religious Freedom, has been misinterpreted as a “rupture” with preconciliar teaching.
“Even human societies have to serve the Creator,” said Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana. “It is not always possible because of the consequences of original sin and the activity of the devil, but in theory we have to say this, and this is not a contradiction with Dignitatis Humanae.”
“In Latin America, the aggressive Protestant proselytisms (are) destroying large Catholic populations,” he continued. “We cannot as Catholics be content with this and cannot say this is an application of religious liberty … In these cases we must defend Catholics.”
“When there is (a Catholic majority) then false religions and sects have not the right to make propaganda there,” he added. Though governments should not “suppress them” – “they can live” – governments “cannot give them the same right to make propaganda to the detriment of Catholics.”
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