In 1965, Pope Paul VI issued his Declaration on Religious Freedom, “Dignitatis Humanae,” which said: “This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such ways that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits.”

Of course, this is simply in keeping with the Christian idea of free will which has been eloquently defended throughout history by St. Augustine and his followers.

Unfortunately, “religious freedom” does not mean the same thing for everyone.

As reported on BBC’s Web site, Liu Jianchao of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said this in response to a U.S. government report criticizing China for its policy on religious freedom: “The Chinese government protects its citizens’ freedom of religious beliefs according to law and Chinese citizens fully enjoy religious freedom according to law.”

Perhaps the key phrase is “according to law.” All religious organizations are required by Chinese law to register with the government. The government also prosecutes those groups that it determines to be cults, such as Falun Gong.

Unfortunately, this all means that Catholics in China are forced to divide their loyalty between the underground Catholic Church, which answers to the Vatican, and the state-sanctioned Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.

The Vatican and the government had moved toward some type of uneasy reconciliation in which the Holy See would approve the ordination of certain bishops selected by the government. However, two of the last three bishops ordained by the Patriotic Church were not approved by the Holy See. The Vatican, as can be expected, did not react kindly to this.

For a nation built on Protestantism it might be difficult to grasp the problem in the situation. The Patriotic Church is a Chinese organization, so why should they bend to pressure from Rome? This sentiment is reflected in one of the comments left after the story entitled “Vatican-China talks ‘should end.'”

There are a few problems with this idea. First, anyone that chooses to go underground and answer to the Pope opens themselves up to persecution by the Chinese government. Clearly, freedom of religion is being denied in this case.

Secondly, the Catholic Church does not take kindly to the weakening of its unity. The Nicene Creed and one line in particular – “one holy catholic and apostolic Church” – sums up nicely what the Catholic Church believes itself to be. The Church is to be unified as one. It is holy because it is the body of Christ on Earth and the dispenser of the sacraments, which are special means of grace founded by Christ himself. It is catholic because it is universal. And finally, it is apostolic because the first leaders of the Church were the Apostles, and there has been an unbroken line of succession from the first Apostles to today’s bishops. The separation of the Church in China into two organizations weakens the unity of the Church. And while the Church has always had relations with countries and negotiated with them over the ordination of bishops in troubling times, they know that the faith is not beholden to the state.

A country such as the United States that has been headed by so many Episcopalians, probably cannot be faulted for failing to understand this issue. After all, it was the Anglican Church in England that introduced the triumvirate of God, king (or queen, in this case) and country.

However, religious liberty can never truly be respected when the state controls religion or vice-versa. This, however, does not mean that the state should endorse atheism, as is often inferred by strict advocates of the wall of separation. Government endorsement and enforcement of irreligion makes for no more liberty than that of religion. China would do well to remember that true religious liberty does not come by way of forcing citizens to answer to the state or not believe at all.

John Ostrowski is a junior in Communications. His column appears Tuesdays. He can be reached at [email protected].