Religious liberty, 1,700 years later

Idea can be dated to Emperor Constantine on Milvian Bridge

Gian Lorenzo Bernini's statue of the Roman Emperor Constantine in the portico of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

For Vatican historians, the roots of a Christian idea of religious liberty go way back: in fact, back 1,700 years to the Emperor Constantine's victory on Rome's Milvian Bridge and to his conversion.

At a Vatican conference in late April marking the anniversary, the head of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences said Constantine's victory in 312 under the sign of the cross was "the foundation of a new world" marked by religious freedom for Christians and separation of church and state.

For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.