Welcom, September 2024

The Vatican’s top doctrinal office published a new Declaration, on 8 April 2924, on the theme of human dignity. Entitled Declaration Dignitas Infinita, on Human Dignity, the Declaration from the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, addresses a range of contemporary moral and social issues.

The New Zealand Catholic bishops have approved ‘Infinite Dignity = Infinite Love’ as the theme for this year’s Day of Prayer for Life on 13 October – also known as Support Life Sunday – which draws on the Vatican’s document, Dignitas Infinita – On Human Dignity.

Emeritus Bishop Peter Cullinane discusses the Declaration Dignitas Infinita, on Human Dignity in the following article. Bishop Peter’s article is published in WelCom in two parts, coinciding with the lead-up to the Day of Prayer for Life. The second part will follow in WelCom’s October edition.

Part One

The Key

So much of Pope Francis’ pastoral teaching is summed up in the very first sentence of the recent Declaration on Human Dignity – Dignitas Infinita issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [published 8 April 2024]:

Every human person possesses an infinite dignity, inalienably grounded in his or her being, and this dignity prevails in and beyond every circumstance, state or situation the person may ever encounter.

This is called our ‘ontological dignity’ because it is grounded in a person’s very existence. It is a way of saying the dignity which derives from being called into existence by God is not diminished by anything that can ever happen to us, or by anything we ourselves might do. God loves us ‘beyond every circumstance’.

Unsurprisingly, at the end of the Declaration, the Church calls for this fundamental principle to be ‘placed at the very centre of our commitment to the common good and the centre of every legal system’. (n 64)

There are, of course, other aspects of human dignity that can be lost or diminished. The Declaration speaks of the dignity that comes with the gift of free will (moral dignity); the dignity that comes from having the necessities of life (social dignity); and the dignity that we experience as a sense of wholeness and well-being (existential dignity).

Corresponding to each of these, we speak of loss of dignity resulting from, for example, the misuse of our freedom, the deprivation of proper living conditions, or lack of deep life-satisfaction. The Declaration explains: ‘some people may appear to lack nothing essential for life, but for various reasons still struggle to live with peace, joy and hope [or are affected by] serious illnesses, violent family environments, pathological additions…n. 7.

Concerning all these ways of experiencing deprivation, loss or disability, the document is saying two things:

• none of these deprivations/diminishments deprives us of the underlying dignity that belongs to us as persons called into existence by God; and
• our lives as individuals, and as beings who live in a network of relationships with others, require us to work towards overcoming every form of indignity, deprivation and injustice. This is what the second half of the Declaration deals with. It is what we need to reflect on as part of our commitment to the common good, and to see where human dignity needs to be better supported in our legal system.

Instead of attempting to summarise what the Declaration says about the many violations of human dignity it discusses, I shall share a few reflections and pose some of the questions we all might need to ask ourselves.

Freedom

Becoming authentically human is a work in progress. Ensuring our moral dignity, our social dignity, and our existential dignity are intact involves making choices. It also involves how we understand freedom.

A virus within western culture today is the idea that a person is some ‘inner self’ that is ultimately independent of others, and even independent of one’s own body. It is claimed there are no boundaries to how a supposed ‘inner self’ can choose to be. This kind of thinking is meant to support the view that the act of choosing is self-validating, whatever might be the consequences of one’s choice. Choosing is supposedly more important than what is chosen.

Familiarity with technology and its benefits can lead us to assume that what we can do, we may do? Are we ourselves among those who have lost a sense of the purposes built into nature, and how they circumscribe what we may do – whether to ourselves or to others or to the environment?

Foundations

We will not understand what makes human dignity great if we underestimate the meaning of marriage. Often it is through the struggles, sorrows and sacrifices, which are part of life, that we discover our own humanity, our dignity, and mission in life. In marriage, these experiences are part of a shared journey. Yet marriage is not defined by the merits of sharing the journey. We also need to look at what marriage is specifically designed for and intended to be.

We discover its purpose by reference to God in whose image we are made – and in whom life and love are one and the same. Marriage is designed to reflect this unity of love and life. Sexuality’s meaning is based on two purposes that come together uniquely in marriage: they are sexuality’s potential for deeply nurturing the love of two people, and the way their love is designed to generate new life.

The joy and sense of wonder which this can bring to husband and wife is heightened by their discovery that love and life are both gifts. Their love is experienced as something not owed but freely given, and the more wonderful for that. Similarly, when new life is the fruit of their love, it is experienced as not owed, and the more wonderful for that.

These are the realms of human experience that are jeopardised when human intentions depart from nature’s intentions. Separated from what nature intends marriage to be, sexuality is separated from its meaning. Likewise, separated from the loving union of husband and wife, procreation is separated from the source of its meaning and its dignity. Whatever the sense of loss from not being able to conceive, ultimately a child is never ‘owed’ to anyone.

I am aware of the struggles of those whose sexual or gender orientations are different, and I reaffirm their right to the same respect that belongs to every person. That right does not depend on their beliefs or actions or sexual orientation. It is securely based on the fact they have been called into existence by God and are loved by God, whatever their circumstances.

It does not follow others have to agree with their beliefs. This can be difficult for some to understand: ‘How can you accept me as the person I am if you do not accept what I do?’ It’s because the respect we owe people is not limited to those we agree with. It is ‘beyond every circumstance’ – unconditional – based on their dignity as persons.

Part two of this article will be published in the October edition of WelCom.

“…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.” 

– From the opening paragraph of Dignitas Infinita – On Human Dignity

The Vatican’s Declaration on Human Dignity can be read online at: tinyurl.com/Declaration-on-Human-Dignity

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