On April 2, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published Dignitas Infinita, a Declaration reaffirming the Church’s teaching on the intrinsic dignity of the human person and addressing and condemning certain attacks on that dignity, including povery, war, abortion, human trafficking, and gender ideology. The introduction to the Declaration begins: “Every human person possesses an infinite dignity, inalienably grounded in his or her very being, which prevails in and beyond every circumstance, state, or situation the person may ever encounter. This principle, which is fully recognizable even by reason alone, underlies the primacy of the human person and the protection of human rights. In the light of Revelation, the Church resolutely reiterates and confirms the ontological dignity of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God and redeemed in Jesus Christ. From this truth, the Church draws the reasons for her commitment to the weak and those less endowed with power, always insisting on ‘the primacy of the human person and the defense of his or her dignity beyond every circumstance.'”

The Declaration quotes Pope St. Paul VI, who reminded all that the Catholic Church has been the consistent defender of human dignity and the fundamental rights of persons against all others. Pope St. Paul VI said, “no anthropology equals that of the Church regarding the human person—particularly concerning the person’s originality, dignity, the intangibility and richness of the person’s fundamental rights, sacredness, capacity for education, aspiration to a complete development, and immortality.” Indeed, the Church has been the consistent champion of the human dignity of each individual and of the fundamental rights that are the consequence of that dignity.

The Declaration goes on to delineate four distinctions in human dignity: ontological dignity, moral dignity, social dignity, and existential dignity. On ontological dignity, the document says, “The most important among these is the ontological dignity that belongs to the person as such simply because he or she exists and is willed, created, and loved by God. Ontological dignity is indelible and remains valid beyond any circumstances in which the person may find themselves.” This is the dignity given one by God, being made in His image and likeness. It is a dignity that all must respect and that can never be confiscated by others or even surrendered by the individual. The Declaration states that moral dignity is attached to how one acts in the world. While given free will to act toward the good, people can choose to act contrary to the good, contrary to God’s will, and as such act in a way that is not dignified, that contradicts their dignity. We are called to the good, to the universal good as defined by God’s will. To act toward the good is to respect and acknowledge our dignity. To act contrary to the good is to deny our dignity.

Social dignity refers to a person’s living conditions and the all-too-often circumstances where people, such as those living in extreme poverty, are living in conditions contrary to their ontological dignity, making it difficult for them to lives lives of human dignity. “The last meaning'” the Declaration says, “is that of existential dignity, which is the type of dignity implied in the ever-increasing discussion about a ‘dignified’ life and one that is ‘not dignified.’ For instance, while some people may appear to lack nothing essential for life, for various reasons, they may still struggle to live with peace, joy, and hope. In other situations, the presence of serious illnesses, violent family environments, pathological addictions, and other hardships may drive people to experience their life conditions as ‘undignified’ vis-à-vis their perception of that ontological dignity that can never be obscured.”

In perhaps the critical paragraph of the Declaration, it states, “Finally, it is worth mentioning that the classical definition of a person as an ‘individual substance of a rational nature’ clarifies the foundation of human dignity. As an ‘individual substance,’ the person possesses ontological dignity (that is, at the metaphysical level of being itself). Having received existence from God, humans are subjects who ‘subsist’—that is, they exercise their existence autonomously. The term ‘rational’ encompasses all the capacities of the human person, including the capacities of knowing and understanding, as well as those of wanting, loving, choosing, and desiring; it also includes all corporeal functions closely related to these abilities. ‘Nature’ refers to the conditions particular to us as human beings, which enable our various operations and the experiences that characterize them; in this sense, nature is the ‘principle of action.’ We do not create our nature; we hold it as a gift and we can nurture, develop, and enhance our abilities. By exercising the freedom to cultivate the riches of our nature, we grow over time. Even if a person is unable to exercise these capabilities due to various limitations or conditions, nevertheless the person always subsists as an ‘individual substance’ with a complete and inalienable dignity. This applies, for instance, to an unborn child, an unconscious person, or an older person in distress.”

In reflecting on biblical themes, the Declaration reminds us that our dignity is given to us by God, for we are made in His image and likeness. We possess the imago Dei, that is, “the image of God,” within us as creations of the heavenly Father. As well, by entering into the human condition, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, thus elevating the dignity of what it means to be human. Jesus taught by example in recognizing the intrinsic dignity of all persons, Gentile and Jew, man or woman, Roman or Greek. He turned to those who had been rejected and reminded them and all of their dignity: the poor, the destitute, the adulteress, the rich man, the tax collector, the leper, and even the dying and dead. Jesus recognized their dignity and called us to do the same. Furthermore, the Resurrection of Christ Jesus elevates again the dignity of the human person because it reveals that our dignity is fulfilled in living in loving communion with God, the Holy Trinity, for eternity.

The part of the Declaration that has received the most attention from the press, of course, is the list of attacks on human dignity and a condemnation of these attacks. And that one condemnation that has received the most attention from the press is the condemnation of gender ideology. But the Declaration speaks to other attacks on the dignity of the human person. These attacks include: poverty, war, the travail of migrants, human trafficking, sexual abuse, violence against women, abortion, surrogacy, euthanasia and assisted suicide, the marginalization of people with disabilities, gender theory, sex change, and digital violence.

The Declaration makes reference to the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights promulgated by the United Nations in 1948. Pope Francis calls on nations to make that Declaration a reality in today’s political order. The Declaration says, “In this spirit, the Church, with the present Declaration, ardently urges that respect for the dignity of the human person beyond all circumstances be placed at the center of the commitment to the common good and at the center of every legal system. Indeed, respect for the dignity of each person is the indispensable basis for the existence of any society that claims to be founded on just law and not on the force of power. Acknowledging human dignity forms the basis for upholding fundamental human rights, which precede and ground all civic coexistence.”

Pope Francis is quoted by the Declaration: “Every human being has the right to live with dignity and to develop integrally; this fundamental right cannot be denied by any country. People have this right even if they are unproductive or were born with or developed limitations. This does not detract from their great dignity as human persons, a dignity based not on circumstances but on the intrinsic worth of their being. Unless this basic principle is upheld, there will be no future either for fraternity or for the survival of humanity.”

The intrinsic dignity of the human person and the social nature of human life are the keystones of the Catholic moral tradition. We must adhere to these principles now more than ever, when human dignity is so assaulted and the social nature of human life, that is, our responsibility to each other and our joy in our experience of each other, is ignored or even never considered by a culture dominated with concern for the individual’s expression of their personal truth and what they perceive as individual freedom.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.