Editorial

We must work and pray for peace through justice and human dignity

“The Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities—to one another, to our families, and to the larger society.” (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)

Later this year, we will observe the 76th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly.

Pope Francis has affirmed the inviolability of human rights, which he believes includes people’s right to remain in their homeland. “The path to peace also requires respect for human rights, as defined by the self-evident and commonly accepted principles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” the Holy Father says.

The basic premise of the Universal Declaration—the equal dignity of every person—is one of the cornerstones of Catholic social teaching.

In the Christian tradition, human dignity derives from a person’s having been formed in the image and likeness of God. In St. Paul’s words: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).

The shared acknowledgement of human dignity as the basis for human rights, which the framers of the Universal Declaration reached by reason, and which Catholics reach by reason and revelation combined, has fostered increasing collaboration among groups of otherwise differing views. This has, in turn, promoted a growing moral consensus that fundamental human rights are indivisible, inviolable and universal.

Pope St. John Paul II praised this declaration as “one of the highest expressions of the human conscience in our time.”

“The dignity of the person finds its primary and fundamental expression in the inviolability of human life. Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights—for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture—is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination” (St. John Paul II, “Christifideles Laici: On the Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful,” #38).

Every human person has the right to live, but this is especially true of those among us who are most vulnerable—the unborn, the sick and elderly and those who suffer from any mental or physical disability. Everyone has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest and the necessary social services.

“In consequence, [everyone] has the right to be looked after in the event of ill health; disability; widowhood; old age; enforced unemployment; or whenever through no fault of [their own individuals are] deprived of the means of livelihood (Pope St. John XXIII, “Pacem in Terris: Peace on Earth,” #11).

In human society, one person’s “natural right gives rise to a corresponding duty in [others]; the duty, that is, of recognizing and respecting [individual] rights. Every basic human right draws its authoritative force from the natural law, which confers it and attaches to it its respective duty. Hence, to claim one’s rights and ignore one’s duties, or only half fulfill them, is like building a house with one hand and tearing it down with the other” (St. John XXIII, “Pacem in Terris: Peace on Earth,” #30).

The inviolability of human rights consists in this universal truth: “individual rights, when detached from a framework of duties which grants them their full meaning, can run wild, leading to an escalation of demands which is effectively unlimited and indiscriminate” (Pope Benedict XVI, “Caritas in Veritate: Charity in Truth,” #43).

Regrettably, the journey toward a more just and peaceful world remains unfinished. Violence, unjust aggression and open war (or threats of warfare) are everywhere in today’s world.

As we work and pray for peace through justice and human dignity, this is a fitting moment to acknowledge the sacrifices of so many who suffered and fought to secure the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration.

Let us pray that their sacrifices will be the first fruits of peace. And let us work for peace—in our own hearts, our families, our nation and throughout the world community.

—Daniel Conway