John Paul II and the Legacy of “Dignitatis humanae” by Hermmio Rico, S.J.

Abstract

662 BOOK REVIEWS January 2003) noted his uncommon generosity, and I attest to it, too. The Letters and Diaries series will publish over 20,000 Newman letters. I once asked Tracey to guess how many more Newman actually wrote, and he answered "another 20,000." Take, as instance, the diary entry for 1/26/41, where Newman lists eleven letters he wrote on this day, of which we have only two (LD 8:23). Some letters have turned up since Fr. Dessain began this series. Tracey was already planning supplemental volumes to the originally envisioned thirty-one. His masterly hand is missed. (Bro. Francis McGrath, F.M.S., a distinguished Newman scholar, has been appointed his successor.) Oxford University Press is also to be acknowledged appreciatively. These volumes are meant for libraries, and such books do not make much money for presses. But OUP has stood steadfastly behind the project. There was a time when only Newman's Uniform &lition was quoted in Newman scholarship, but as the Newman of the letters has been mainstreamed into scholarly consciousness-and this is relatively recently-one now sees Letters and Diaries referenced liberally. Perhaps this isthe finest acknowledgment readers can render Oxford University Press. EDWARD JEREMY MILLER Gwynedd-Mercy College Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania john Paul II and the Legacy of "Dignitatis humanae.,, By HERMINIO Rico, S.J. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2002. Pp. 228. $59.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-87840-889-4. Even at a first glance at this book by Portuguese Jesuit Herminio Rico suggests reasons that one should read it carefully. First of all, it deals with the theme of the heritage of the Second Vatican Council, to whose implementation Catholics all over the world are still called. Second, the author takes up the theme of interpretation and adoption of the heritage of the council byJohn Paul II, which is still the subject of much debate between critics and enthusiasts of the present pontificate. Third, the book promises critical considerations about freedom, or more precisely, about religious freedom, as a key to the understanding of modern culture and the way in which modernity is interpreted by John Paul II. The book consists of two parts. The first is devoted to an analysis of the declaration Dignitatis humanae and to the presentation of theological debates connected with the declaration. The second part is devoted to the place of this document in John Paul II's pontificate. The first chapter presents one of the BOOK REVIEWS 663 author's major theses, which is that the declaration Dignitatis humanae, understood in light of the history of the Church, serves three important functions. First, since it grants every human person the right to religious freedom, the declaration has redefined the relations between the state and the Church. In this new formula, in which Rico follows Marie-Dominique Chenu, the Constantinian era ends, and the secular authorities are no longer under an obligation to promote the mission of the Church. In the context of such an interpretation of Dignitatis humanae, religious freedom is understood as an inalienable and natural right of every human person. Second, the declaration condemns the religious persecution committed by the governments of states under the influence of ideologies hostile towards religion, especially communism. In this sense, religious freedom is understood, according to Rico, first of all as the right of the Church to operate and exist freely. It is worth pointing out here a certain lack of ecumenical sensitivity in the book. Rico makes a dangerous and illegitimate distortion of the content of the declaration. He claims that this declaration is about the defense of the Church against state interference, suggesting that first of all it is about the Catholic Church. In fact, the declaration (and this is one of the great achievements of the council's theology) defends the rights of all religious communities and churches. The defense of the rights of the Catholic Church is only one of the many applications of this more universal attitude. It is worth noting that John Paul II became involved in the 1980s in the defense of the rights of believers in Central-Eastern Europe against enforced atheism-not only Catholics in...