Ep. #197 – Dignitatis Humanae: Reversal, Rupture, or What? w/ Prof. Michael Dunnigan
Summary
Was Dignitatis Humanae a rupture in Church teaching, a magisterial reversal, or something else? Professor Michael Dunnigan joins us to discuss his thorough work on the subject.
In the years since the close of the Second Vatican Council, controversy arose surrounding the publication of the council’s declaration on Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae (1965). Was the Second Vatican Council’s Document on Religious Liberty, Dignitiatis Humanae, a reversal of the previous Magisterium of the Church?
And did the document provide a pathway to religious indifferentism, promoting the idea that every individual is free to believe error? What are the origins of religious liberty that the council upheld and what were the debates surrounding it? We tackle these topics throughout the episode.
Guest Bio
Mr. Dunnigan joined the Seminary faculty in 2017, and he teaches courses on Canon Law, the Protection of Rights within the Church, and Civil Law and Church Administration.
Before coming to Saint Meinrad, he was a practitioner of canon law and civil law. His main areas of civil practice have been complex civil litigation and nonprofit organizations. His canonical practice has concerned the rights of the faithful, patrimonial law, associations of the faithful, the rights of clergy, and historic preservation. He is admitted to the bar in Texas and Arizona.
Mr. Dunnigan has taught as an adjunct professor at several institutions in Texas. He also has delivered speeches and written articles on a variety of subjects, including religious liberty, the sexual abuse crisis in the Church, parish closings, the rights of individuals and associations, and comparative law.
Resources
Michael Dunnigan’s faculty page
Dignitatis Humanae (The Actual Document from Vatican II)
Articles by Michael Dunnigan at Catholicworldreport.com
Religious Liberty: An Objection Considered (article) by Dr. Bryan Cross
Conscience and Coercion (article) by Thomas Pink
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