Dignitatis Humanae

Dignitatis Humanae (Latin: Of the Dignity of the Human Person) is the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Religious Freedom. In the context of the Council's stated intention “to develop the doctrine of recent popes on the inviolable rights of the human person and the constitutional order of society”, Dignitatis Humanae spells out the Church's support for the protection of religious liberty. More controversially, it set the ground rules by which the Church would relate to secular states, both pluralistic ones like the U.S., and officially Catholic nations like Malta and Costa Rica.

The passage of this measure by a vote of 2,308 to 70 is considered by many one of the most significant events of the Council. This declaration was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on December 7, 1965.