The Dignity and Life of a Human Person

The Catholic Church proclaims that human lives are sacred, since human beings are the most
central and clearest reflection of God; they have immeasurable worth and value that comes from
God Himself.

The theme of Human Dignity is about radical equality before God that leads people to think no
less of somebody because of their differences, and human dignity is grounded on human freedom,
so people are free to accept or reject the ongoing self-communication of God. Since only those
who are free can be morally responsible, human beings are morally responsible to concretely
protect human dignity, to do good and to avoid evil.

Human beings are different from any other being, since they are capable of knowing and loving
God unlike any other creature. The foundation of morality is belief in the dignity of the human
person, and the foundation of the Catholic social teaching principles is the principle of human
dignity that, according to theology, rests on a foundation of faith which affirms that God is the
source and creator of all life.

According to Genesis 1:26-27, “God created man and woman in his image.” Because of this,
the Church sees in every person the living image of God, and so, human dignity originates from
God and is of God. Therefore, it is not something that can be bestowed upon or be taken away by
another individual. In other words, it is intrinsic to human’s existence. The Catholic Social
Teaching states that each and every human being has value, is worthy of great respect and must
be free from slavery, manipulation and exploitation.

Therefore, the Church recognizes every human being as unique, since it is in God’s will that he
or she to be an unrepeatable person, created out of love and redeemed with even greater love.
Human dignity is central to the social doctrine of the Church, and people are called to treat others
with utmost respect with the knowledge that they are an individual created and loved by God.

According to Immanuel Kant, human beings must not be used as a means of reaching certain
goals, and they are, rather, the end in themselves. The social order exists for the sake of human
beings; it must be guided by what an individual needs for a dignified life, and it must not be the
other way around.

In the society, human life is under attack from abortion, euthanasia and war; its value is being
threatened by cloning, embryonic stem cell research and the use of the death penalty. The Church
believes that people are precious, that people are more important than things no matter what the
circumstances may be and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or
enhances human life and dignity.

No human being should have their dignity or freedom compromised, and poverty, hunger,
oppression and injustice make it impossible to live a life commensurate with this dignity.
The Social Nature of Human Beings

The precept “You shall not kill” sets a limit to guard the value of life and encourages a positive
attitude of absolute respect for it. This teaching rests on the principle that human beings are the
foundation, the cause and the end of every social institution, and that is necessarily so, for men
are by nature social beings as St. John XXIII stated in Mater et Magistra.

Men are essentially social beings, so they form communities. They rely on relationships,
recognizing the importance of collaboration; however, their social nature does not always lead to
harmonious communion among persons because of pride and selfishness. It is only out of love
for one’s own good and for that of others that people, with the purpose of attaining a common
good, come together in stable groups.

Human Rights

It is important to understand that human rights are inherent in man’s nature, and that they can
be understood through reason; the ultimate source of human rights is found in men themselves
and in God their Creator.

They are universal, inviolable and inalienable. They are universal insofar as they are present in
all human beings. They are inviolable insofar as they are inherent in the same person and in
human dignity, and it is inalienable insofar as no one can deprive another person of these rights,
since this would do violence to their nature.

The right to life is the fundamental human right, and other important rights include the right to
freedom of opinion and the right to choose and practice a religion freely.

The Right to Life

According to the Church, human life begins at conception. An embryo is a complete human
being and so is entitled to the same dignity that belongs to every human person.

The Church rejects abortion, since the killing of an embryo is unacceptable regardless of the
circumstances. An embryo does not develop into a human being but rather develops as a human
being.

Tradition

According to Pope Francis, it becomes difficult to hear the cry of nature itself when people fail
to acknowledge as part of reality the worth of a human person.

As the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit to guard the value of life, today
people also have to say “thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and inequality, for such an
economy kills. How can it be that it is news when the stock market loses two points, but it is not
news when an elderly person dies of exposure? This is a case of exclusion. How can it be that it
is usual to just stand by when food is thrown away while many are starving? This is a case
inequality. Nowadays, everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the
fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless, and as a consequence, many find themselves
excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.
Exclusion has to do with what it means to be a part of the society, and those excluded are no
longer a part of society itself. They are the outcast, the “leftovers” and not the “exploited”
according to Pope Francis.

St. John Paul II adds that human persons are willed by God and that they are imprinted with
God’s image, so their dignity does not come from the work they do, but from the persons they
are.

There also exist sinful inequalities that affect millions, and these contradict the Gospel: Their
equal dignity as persons demands that we strive for fairer and more humane conditions.

Whatever insults human dignity, such as prostitution and disgraceful working conditions,
where men are treated as tools for profit, rather than as free and responsible persons, are indeed
infamies. They poison human society, but according to the Second Vatical Council, in Gaudium
et Spes, they do more harm to those who practice them than those who suffer from the injury.

Bibliography
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/theforum/a-history-of-human-dignity/
https://www.bible.com/bible/100/GEN.1.NASB
https://www.caritas.org.au/learn/cst/dignity-of-the-human-person
http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/life-and-
dignity-of-the-human-person.cfm
http://www.catholicsocialteaching.org.uk/themes/human-dignity/stories/
https://ccsww.org/about-us/catholic-social-teaching/
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_do
c_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html#Respect%20for%20human%20dignity
https://www.cacatholic.org/teachings/catholic-social-teaching/themes/right-life-and-dignity-
human-person
https://www.devp.org/en/cst/dignity
https://rcpolitics.org/the-dignity-of-the-human-person/
https://catholiccharitiescamden.org/principles-of-catholic-social-teaching/
https://www.etymonline.com/word/dignity
https://www.caritas.org.au/docs/cst/education-for-justice-dignity.pdf?sfvrsn=dd1f90aa_0
https://socialconcerns.nd.edu/content/2-life-and-dignity-human-person