Introduction
1. (Dignitas infinita) 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.”[: Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum (4 October 2023), no. 39: L’Osservatore Romano (4 October 2023), III.]
2. This ontological dignity and the unique and eminent value of every man and woman in the world was reaffirmed authoritatively in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, issued by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948.[: In 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which consists of thirty articles. The word “dignity” appears there five times, in strategic places: in the first words of the Preamble and in the first sentence of Article One. This dignity is declared to be “inherent in all members of the human family” (Preamble) and “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” (Article 1).] As we commemorate the 75th anniversary of that document, the Church sees an opportunity to proclaim anew its conviction that all human beings—created by God and redeemed by Christ—must be recognized and treated with respect and love due to their inalienable dignity. The anniversary also provides an occasion for the Church to clarify some frequent misconceptions concerning human dignity and to address some serious and urgent related issues.
3. From the start of her mission and propelled by the Gospel, the Church has striven to affirm human freedom and promote the rights of all people.[: Paying attention only to the modern era, we see how the Church has progressively accentuated the importance of human dignity. The theme was particularly developed in Pope Leo XIII’s Encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891), Pope Pius XI’s Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno (1931) and Pope Pius XII’s Address to the Congress of the Italian Catholic Union of Midwives (1951). The Second Vatican Council, then, developed this issue, devoting an entire document to the subject with the Declaration Dignitatis Humanae (1965) and discussing human freedom in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes (1965).] In recent times, thanks to the voices of the Pontiffs, the Church has made a deliberate effort to formulate this commitment in more explicit terms through a renewed call to acknowledge the fundamental dignity inherent in every person. On this point, Pope St. Paul VI affirmed that “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.”[: Paul VI, General Audience (4 September 1968): Insegnamenti VI (1968), 886.]
4. Pope St. John Paul II, during the Third General Conference of Latin American and Caribbean Bishops in Puebla in 1979, affirmed that human dignity is “a Gospel value that cannot be despised without greatly offending the Creator. This dignity is infringed on the individual level when due regard is not had for values such as freedom, the right to profess one’s religion, physical and mental integrity, the right to essential goods, to life. It is infringed on the social and political level when man cannot exercise his right of participation, or when he is subjected to unjust and unlawful coercion, or submitted to physical or mental torture, etc. […] If the Church makes herself present in the defense of, or in the advancement of human dignity, she does so in line with her mission, which, although it is religious and not social or political, cannot fail to consider man in the entirety of his being.”[: John Paul II, Address to the Third General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate (28 January 1979), III.1-2: Insegnamenti II/1 (1979), 202-203.]
5. Then, in 2010, addressing the Pontifical Academy for Life, Pope Benedict XVI declared that human dignity is “a fundamental principle which faith in the Crucified and Risen Jesus Christ has always defended, especially when, in respect of the simplest and most defenseless people, it is disregarded.”[: Benedict XVI, Address to Participants in the General Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life (13 February 2010): Insegnamenti VI/1 (2011), 218.] On another occasion, speaking to economists, he stated that “the economy and finance do not exist for their own sake; they are only an instrument or means. Their sole end is the human person and his or her total fulfillment in dignity. This is the only capital, and it is right to safeguard [it].”[: Benedict XVI, Address to Participants in the Meeting of the Development Bank of the Council of Europe (12 June 2010): Insegnamenti VI/1 (2011), 912-913.]
6. From the start of his pontificate, Pope Francis has invited the Church to “believe in a Father who loves all men and women with an infinite love, realizing that ‘he thereby confers upon them an infinite dignity.’”[: Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), no. 178: AAS 105 (2013), 1094; quoting John Paul II, Angelus in the Cathedral of Osnabrück (16 November 1980): Insegnamenti III/2 (1980), 1232.] He has strongly emphasized that such immense dignity is an original datum (something given) that is to be acknowledged faithfully and welcomed with gratitude. Based on this recognition and acceptance of human dignity, a new coexistence among people can be established that develops social relationships in the context of authentic fraternity. Indeed, only by “acknowledging the dignity of each human person” can we “contribute to the rebirth of a universal aspiration to fraternity.”[: Francis, Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti (3 October 2020), no. 8: AAS 112 (2020), 971.] Pope Francis affirms that “the wellspring of human dignity and fraternity is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ,”[: Ibid., no. 277: AAS 112 (2020), 1069.] but even human reason can arrive at this conviction through reflection and dialogue since “the dignity of others is to be respected in all circumstances, not because that dignity is something we have invented or imagined, but because human beings possess an intrinsic worth superior to that of material objects and contingent situations. This requires that they be treated differently. That every human being possesses an inalienable dignity is a truth that corresponds to human nature apart from all cultural change.”[: Ibid., no. 213: AAS 112 (2020), 1045.] Pope Francis concludes, “human beings have the same inviolable dignity in every age of history, and no one can consider himself or herself authorized by particular situations to deny this conviction or to act against it.”[: Ibid., no. 213: AAS 112 (2020), 1045; quoting Id., Message to Participants in the International Conference “Human Rights in the Contemporary World: Achievements, Omissions, Negations” (10 December 2018): L’Osservatore Romano, (10-11 December 2018), 8.] From this perspective, Pope Francis’ encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, constitutes a kind of “Magna Carta” of our contemporary tasks to protect and promote human dignity.
7. There is widespread agreement today on the importance and normative scope of human dignity and on the unique and transcendent value of every human being.[: The 1948 UN Declaration was followed and further elaborated by the 1966 UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1975 Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.] However, the phrase “the dignity of the human person” risks lending itself to a variety of interpretations that can yield potential ambiguities[: Cf. International Theological Commission, Dignity and Rights of the Human Person (1983), Introduction, 3. A compendium of Catholic teaching on human dignity can be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in the chapter entitled, “The Dignity of the Human Person,” nos. 1700-1876.] and “contradictions that lead us to wonder whether the equal dignity of all human beings […] is truly recognized, respected, protected and promoted in every situation.”[: Francis, Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti (3 October 2020), no. 22: AAS 112 (2020), 976.] This brings us to recognize the possibility of a fourfold distinction of the concept of dignity: ontological dignity, moral dignity, social dignity, and existential dignity. 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. When we speak of moral dignity, we refer to how people exercise their freedom. While people are endowed with conscience, they can always act against it. However, were they to do so, they would behave in a way that is “not dignified” with respect to their nature as creatures who are loved by God and called to love others. Yet, this possibility always exists for human freedom, and history illustrates how individuals—when exercising their freedom against the law of love revealed by the Gospel—can commit inestimably profound acts of evil against others. Those who act this way seem to have lost any trace of humanity and dignity. This is where the present distinction can help us discern between the moral dignity that de facto can be “lost” and the ontological dignity that can never be annulled. And it is precisely because of this latter point that we must work with all our might so that all those who have done evil may repent and convert.
8. There are still two other possible aspects of dignity to consider: social and existential. When we speak of social dignity, we refer to the quality of a person’s living conditions. For example, in cases of extreme poverty, where individuals do not even have what is minimally necessary to live according to their ontological dignity, it is said that those poor people are living in an “undignified” manner. This expression does not imply a judgment on those individuals but highlights how the situation in which they are forced to live contradicts their inalienable dignity. The last meaning 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. These distinctions remind us of the inalienable value of the ontological dignity that is rooted in the very being of the human person in all circumstances.
9. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the classical definition of a person as an “individual substance of a rational nature”[: Boethius, Contra Eutychen et Nestorium, c. 3: PL 64, 1344: “persona est rationalis naturae individua substantia.” Cf. Bonaventure, In I Sent., d. 25, a. 1, q. 2; Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I, q. 29, a. 1, resp.] 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.
