ABSTRACT
The experiences of the 1930s must have made a deep impression on Pope Pius XII, who ascended to the papal throne in 1939. The UN declaration in 1948 was of decisive significance for the Second Vatican Council. The idea of human rights became important for clarifying the relationship of the Catholic Church to liberal democracy, but it was also an influential factor in the council's updating and reorientation of the Church's theology. The importance of the new theology and philosophy can be seen in the reaction with which it was met from the highest levels of the Church. The reinterpretation of the grace-nature foundation for a revelation-focused theology was Christocentric and ultimately ecclesiocentric, which implied recognition of the decisive difference between The Church and the world, the Church and human culture. The objective was the establishment of universal rights that could be endorsed by all people, regardless of religion, philosophical view, culture, or geopolitical standpoint.
