Doesn’t religious freedom violate the rights of Christ the King?
Religious freedom, properly understood, is a necessary prerequisite for the reign of Christ the King to be realized in society (CCC 2104-2109). The reason for this is that Christ does not impose His will by force. Rather, Christ chooses to reign by being freely accepted in individual hearts, families, social institutions, and civil society. Therefore, any “Christendom” imposed by force is a false and counterfeit social reign of Christ the King. Christendom will reemerge when Christian principles once again begin to inform all aspects of social life, however, it will reemerge in a form adapted to the requirements of our age. The implication here is that “Christendom” in our time does not simply call for a return to the “social and political institutions of a bygone era…we cannot tell beforehand what civil and social institutions the spirit of Christianity may give rise to when it has again permeated all of humanity…All of those first principles and laws are in themselves unchangeable. O
