Doesn’t religious freedom apply only to those professing the true religion since error has no rights?
It is true that error, per se, has no rights (CCC #2108). On the other hand, persons retain natural rights in spite of their errors since error does not cancel a natural right. In other words, a person following the dictates of an honestly erroneous conscience acts in true moral freedom – in spite of his error. The reason is that the moral law commands us to obey a certain conscience under pain of sin – even when honestly erroneous. Furthermore, the moral law confers the corresponding moral right (the means) to fulfill ones moral obligations. Therefore, the moral law confers freedom of conscience in religious matters even when it is honestly erroneous. For example, all men have the duty and corresponding natural right to educate their children according to their religious convictions (S.T., ii-ii, 10, 12). Therefore, this duty and corresponding natural right is not cancelled merely by the fact that the parent adheres to objective religious error. The right is not founded on error, per
