Charles Derond

This article examines the question of religious freedom from a dual historical and contemporary perspective. The author develops a comparative study between European and South American approaches to this issue, drawing on the magisterial texts of the Catholic Church as well as two major schools of thought from the twentieth century: personalism and liberation theology. The analysis highlights the fundamental tension between personal conscience and belonging to an ecclesial communion. Charles Derond demonstrates that this questioning of freedom of conscience and faith goes beyond the framework of a strictly Western debate to address essential issues of contemporary orthodoxy. The main contribution of this theological reflection lies in the opening of an ecumenical dialogue on the doctrinal foundations of religious freedom, offering Orthodox theologians elements of reflection drawn from the Catholic tradition.