It was by far the controversial document to emerge from Vatican II--Dignitatis Humanae, or the Declaration on Religious Freedom. Drafted largely by prominent Jesuit theologian John Courtney Murray, it represented a departure from previous Catholic teachings in that it acknowledged and accepted as normative the separation between church and state and declared religious freedom a fundamental human right. In doing this, it set forth rigid guidelines for the role of the Carholic Church in secular liberal and pluralistic societies. Nearly four decades later, Herminio Rico examines the continued...