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culture and society, the Second Vatican Council proposed a renewed anthro-

pological foundation to religious freedom. The Council Fathers stated that

all people are "impelled by nature and also bound by our moral obligation

to seek the truth, especially religious truth".3 The truth sets us free,4 and

it is this same truth that must be sought and assumed freely. The Council

was careful to clarify that this freedom is a right which each person enjoys

naturally and which therefore ought also to be protected and fostered by

civil law.

Of course, every state has a sovereign right to promulgate its own legisla-

tion and will express different attitudes to religion in law. So it is that there

are some states which allow broad religious freedom in our understanding of

the term, while others restrict it for a variety of reasons, including mistrust

for religion itself. The Holy See continues to appeal for the recognition of the

fundamental human right to religious freedom on the part of all states, and

calls on them to respect, and if need be protect, religious minorities who,

though bound by a different faith from the majority around them, aspire to

live with their fellow citizens peacefully and to participate fully in the civil

and political life of the nation, to the benefit of all.

Finally, let me express my sincere hope that your expertise in the fields of

law, political science, sociology and economics will converge in these days to

bring about fresh insights on this important question and thus bear much

fruit now and into the future. During this holy season, I invoke upon you an

abundance of Easter joy and peace, and I willingly impart to you, to Bishop

Sánchez Sorondo and to all the members of the Academy my Apostolic

Blessing.

From the Vatican, 29 April 2011.

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

3 Dignitatis Humanae, 2. 4 Cfr. Jn 8:32.