Freedom of Opinion and Political Correctness: An interview with Cardinal Müller – Catholic World Report

The foundation of a democratic constitutional state is the acknowledgment of fundamental and human rights. The use of these rights is limited by the fundamental and human rights of third parties. The boundary is established by law or by the decisions of the national constitutional court and—in Europe—by the European Tribunal for Human Rights. Both legislation and also decisions of the constitutional courts are subject to societal discussion, so that the boundaries may shift. Of course, the developments described as “cancel culture” and “political correctness” are unusual, since they try to establish these boundaries apart from legislative procedures or court decisions. An ideological elite asserts what must be regarded as good or bad in order to pass muster before the self-appointed tribunal of ideology. We intend to speak about this topic with the dogmatic theologian and historian of dogma, the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Gerhard Cardinal Müller. Lothar C. Rilinger: The right to freedom of opinion is regarded as a human right. Can you envisage this human right being the inalienable foundation of a democratic constitutional state? Gerhard Cardinal Müller: What the state is and what it can undertake with regard to its citizens is debated. After the negative experiences with the overreaching of a totalitarian state, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany takes as its starting point the inviolability of human dignity, which is the foundation and the limit of the exercise of all executive power.

Freedom of Opinion and Political Correctness: An interview with Cardinal Müller – Catholic World Report