Reflection 213                       Previous reflections                   Resolution                The 16 Documents of Vatican II 

Based on the 1965 Vatican 2 document:
DECLARATION ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
DIGNITATIS HUMANAE - 4

As I continue to read this document's words about religious freedom,
I can't help thinking about religious freedom within the Church itself!

For example, this sentence:

"Religious communities also have the right not to be hindered, either by legal measures or by administrative action on the part of government, in the selection, training, appointment, and transferral of their own ministers, in communicating with religious authorities and communities abroad, in erecting buildings for religious purposes, and in the acquisition and use of suitable funds or properties"

One thinks of the selection of bishops, liturgical decisions etc....issues that Vatican II urged be the responsibility of national conferences.
But in recent years, this responsibility has been largely cancelled as Rome takes back power

Jesus, may your Church be a place of religious freedom,
not religious coercion