2024 Catechesis Supplement
Vatican declaration affirms that all humans have an ‘infinite dignity’
Walking to their hotel after the closing Mass for the National Catholic Youth Conference on Nov. 23, 2019, in Indianapolis, young people pray over a homeless man after stopping to offer him water and snacks. (File photo by Natalie Hoefer)
By Sean Gallagher
In their ministry, Church leaders try to help people facing difficult issues.
From catechetical leaders to parish priests, from diocesan bishops to the pope, they invite people to explore how the Gospel can lead them to take a more humane approach to problems weighing them down.
The guidance offered by the Church on such topics as poverty, migration, human trafficking, sexual abuse, gender dysphoria, abortion and euthanasia is all ultimately rooted in its teachings of the meaning of human dignity.
That is the central message of a declaration issued on April 8 by the Vatican’s Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith.
“Dignitas Infinita” (“Infinite Dignity”) lays out the principles of the Church’s teaching on human dignity.
“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” (#1).
The declaration later explores how various trends in contemporary society, such as those listed above, threaten human dignity and that a renewed affirmation of this dignity can be a way to overcome these threats. (Related: Study guide on Vatican document on human dignity available online)
‘The core of our self-understanding’
Ken Ogorek, executive director of the archdiocese’s Secretariat for Evangelizing Catechesis, said the message of the declaration is important for all Catholics in trying to make efforts where they live to help heal society’s problems.
“Misunderstanding the human person is at the root of so much suffering, frankly, self-inflicted and otherwise,” Ogorek said. “It’s the core topic that relates to so many issues that individuals, families and communities struggle with.
“Whether people are aware of it or not, this affects the daily lives of individuals and families in really substantial ways.”
David Bethuram, executive director of the archdiocese’s Secretariat for Catholic Charities, has worked with people in need for decades.
He said that, in addition to helping people in need, charitable ministries are also enlightening for those who minister in them.
“Service teaches people in some way about themselves,” Bethuram said. “It teaches them about tolerance, what they understand or misunderstand about certain people. They learn about what it means to be tolerant and patient, maybe even to the level of understanding of the stress that the people that they’re serving are under, or their mental capacity.”
While the agencies of Catholic Charities in central and southern Indiana do much to help meet the material necessities of people in need, Bethuram said “the most important thing” in helping them is to affirm their dignity by simply giving them personal attention.
“We all have a story,” Bethuram said. “And people who are in a situation where they need help try to find a story that people will relate to. The biggest power that we have is to listen to them.
“It’s really important to have a welcoming nature in all that we do. We need to welcome people who come in every door of Catholic Charities.”
Archbishop Charles C. Thompson has reflected much on human dignity in leading the Church in central and southern Indiana. About six months after he began his leadership of the archdiocese, he issued “We Are One in Christ,” a pastoral letter on the Christian understanding of the human person and how that is at the root of solutions to challenges facing society today.
“Our human dignity, being created in the image of God, is at the core of our entire self-understanding, as well as the whole foundation and stability of society, of the community and the family,” Archbishop Thompson said in a recent interview with The Criterion. “If we don’t have our own sense of meaning and purpose in an understanding of ourselves as created in the image of God and that we have this inherent dignity, how are we ever going to appreciate that in another person?”
Human dignity revealed in Christ
Although “Dignitas Infinita” emphasizes from the start that human dignity can be affirmed from reason alone, it goes on to say that it is strengthened by the witness of Christ.
“By uniting himself with every human being through his incarnation, Jesus Christ confirmed that each person possesses an immeasurable dignity simply by belonging to the human community; moreover, he affirmed that this dignity can never be lost” (#19).
Ogorek noted that this teaching in the declaration is rooted in the Second Vatican Council’s “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World,” which states that “Christ … fully reveals man to himself and makes his supreme calling clear” (#22).
Being open to relating to Christ as a disciple, Ogorek said, can bear fruit in the lives of individuals and their relationships with others.
“You see that the dignity of our Lord is in many ways your dignity, too—and the dignity of all God’s children,” Ogorek said. “Living your disciple relationship with Jesus in full communion with his body, the Church, puts you on a trajectory of solidarity with each of God’s beloved daughters and sons—the infinitely dignified heirs of our heavenly Father’s kingdom.”
Archbishop Thompson looked to the way Christ responded to the humiliation, abuse and torture he endured in his passion and death as a poignant expression of a dignity that could not be stripped from him—or anyone else.
“Here is someone whom the powers of this world had tried to strip everything of, and yet, to the very end, he never lost sight of his dignity and his relationship to God,” Archbishop Thompson said. “That’s why we look to Christ. In whatever we encounter and endure in this life, no matter what takes us down or breaks us down, no matter what happens, Christ reminds us that the world can’t take away the ultimate core of our dignity.”
‘Our focus is on what we’re for’
The final section of the declaration explores how various trends in contemporary society pose threats to human dignity. They include poverty, war, violence against women, the marginalization of people with disabilities, gender theory and sex change.
At times, it points out that the Church’s teaching on human dignity runs counter to views gaining in popularity in the broader culture, such as transgenderism.
“The document doesn’t shy away from challenges and difficulties in the realities of today,” Archbishop Thompson said. “But, in the midst of all of that, it reaffirms that the dignity of every person should never be lost, no matter what the issue. We always speak the truth in charity.”
In its conclusion, the declaration states that “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” (#64).
While noting that the declaration reaffirms the Church’s opposition to practices, such as surrogacy, which are widely accepted in secular society, Archbishop Thompson noted that the document should ultimately be viewed by what it affirms.
“Our focus is not what we’re against,” he said. “Our focus is on what we’re for. We’re for the dignity of the human being as beloved children of God, created in the image of God with inherent dignity and meaning and purpose, to be defended and protected. That’s what we’re for.” †
