Everyone
talks about Freedom of Religion. Freedom of Religion is said to be guaranteed
by the UN in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights of Dec. 10, 1948. I
think that really means freedom for some religions. It is also said to
be one of the freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of the United States of
America. Joining the conversation, Francis Bergoglio at a religious conference
at the Vatican (June 20, 2014), called Religious freedom a “fundamental right
of the human person.” Lately the American Family Association, a Christian
organization, called for the distribution of one million lapel buttons
proclaiming Freedom of Religion. But virtually no one today understands the
question of Religious Freedom.
Freedom of Religion, in the
sense of being free to choose one’s religion, is a Masonic doctrine, and never a
teaching of the Catholic Church until Vatican II. And then, of course, it was
not being taught by the True Catholic Church, but by the Modernist heretics who
planned the so-called Council and took control of it. The Catholic bishops at
the Council were swept along by the rhetoric of the false theologians and their
New Theology, among whom were Giovanni Montini (Paul VI), and Karol Wojtyla (later
John Paul II). Among the documents of Vatican II was Dignitatis Humanae, in which the Vatican II church declared itself
in support of Religious Freedom. Since then it has been hammered home
relentlessly and is now accepted uncritically by the vast majority of
Catholics.
As a result, seeking to convert
others to the Catholic Faith is no longer the policy of the Vatican II church,
and the whole missionary apparatus of the Church is in total collapse. Preaching
the Gospel to the nations is now left to the Evangelicals and Charismatics.
Oh, but what about the New
Evangelization we have been hearing about for the last 50 years since Vatican
II? Well, what a shock it is to discover that the New Vatican II Evangelization
is not evangelization at all. We have all been hoodwinked. Evangelization means
preaching the Gospel, as Jesus Christ commanded in His last words to the
Apostles. But that’s not what this New Evangelization is about. It means going
out and dialoguing with those of other religions. You sit with them over tea
and talk about religion, but “I’m OK, You’re OK. Oh, stay right where you are!
Your beautiful religion gets you in touch with God.” And we’re all on our way
to the Common Homeland anyway (as John Paul II assured us). “We will all meet
there”, says Francis. Muslim, Jew, Catholic, idol worshipper, atheist – what
difference does it make?
When Benedict XVI addressed
the UN General Assembly on April 18, 2008, he referred to the 60th
anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes freedom
of religion, but makes no reference to God, or to our status as creatures of
God. In fact, God is completely ignored, since the document is pure secular
humanism.
But Benedict crowed about
freedom of religion, conforming to the Vatican II heresy on that subject. It is
true, of course, that no one can be impeded from practicing a false religion if
he chooses to do so. But one cannot, in good conscience, choose from among the
many religions, whether true or false. Freedom of Religion does not mean being
free to choose whatever religion you want. To reject true religion is to reject
God Himself.
The True Religion is the one
revealed by God through the Old Testament prophets, and, definitively, through
His Divine Son, Jesus Christ – the Holy Catholic Religion. Those who have the
opportunity to choose, yet reject it in favor of one of the false, manmade
religions, do not have the Spirit of Truth, and cannot be referred to as “men
of good will.” Since Vatican II “faith” is attributed to people of all
religions. They are all called “believers”, but they do not have the true gift
of faith. Many people may be good, as this world understands goodness, but
“without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb.11:6).
We are in this world to save
our souls. And there is only one way to do that. Jesus told His Apostles very
clearly, “He who hears you, hears me; and he who rejects you, rejects me; and
he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me” (Lk.10:16). God does not force our
consciences, but He holds us responsible for our choices.
St. John tells us in his
first epistle: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.
And everyone who loves him who begot, loves also the one begotten of him… He
who believes in the Son of God has the testimony of God in himself. He who does
not believe the Son, makes him a liar; because he does not believe the witness
that God has borne concerning his Son” (1Jn.5:1,10).
Who would dare to make a liar
out of the Son of God, Jesus Christ? But this is exactly what we do when we do
not accept His word as He gave it to us, replacing it with the doctrines of
this world. Just as we are free to do good, but not to do evil, we are free to
choose only the truth. We become free in choosing the truth, whereas if
we choose falsehood we become enslaved. “If you abide in my word,” says Jesus,
“you shall be my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free” (Jn.8:31,32).
Religious Freedom means being
free, by the grace of God, to choose the true Religion which He has revealed
through His Divine Son, Jesus Christ. It has nothing to do with choosing
between the true Religion and the false religions of this world. Only the truth
makes us free. The people of the world are not free, because they have been
enslaved by the false religions. And everyone who commits sin is a slave of
sin, says Our Lord. This is why the Gospel must be preached:
“How then are they to call
upon him in whom they have not believed? But how are they to believe him whom
they have not heard? And how are they to hear, if no one preaches? And how are
men to preach unless they be sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the
feet of those who preach the gospel of peace; of those who bring glad tidings
of good things!’” (Rom.10:14,15).
“If you abide in my word,”
says Jesus Christ, God’s Divine Son, “you shall be disciples indeed, and you
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn.8:31,32).
