Page 6 - Michael 2024 May

Important Vatican

document on violations

of human dignity

Following approval by Pope Francis, the Vatican’s In this document, the Church recalls that what
Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published a ma- underpins the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
jor statement on respect for human dignity on April voted 75 years ago, on December 10, 1948, by the Gen-
8, 2024, entitled Dignitas infinita (“Infinite Dignity”), eral Assembly of the United Nations, what gives every
signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect human being an undeniable dignity and primacy, is
of the dicastery. Announced several weeks ago, and the fact that he or she was created in the image and
the fruit of five years’ work, some feared that this docu- likeness of God: “Created by God and redeemed by
ment would “dilute” or call into question the Church’s Christ, every human being must be recognized and
traditional teaching in order to be more acceptable to treated with respect and love, precisely because of
today’s society. his or her inalienable dignity”. Here are some extracts
Thank God, the Church has refused to make this from this document:
compromise, and has remained faithful to its mission by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández
of witnessing to the truth, and gives in this document
a list of the various actions that gravely violate the dig- The Old Testament
nity of the human person, including what the Church In Exodus, at the heart of the Old Testament, God
has traditionally called the four “sins that cry out to shows himself to be the one who hears the cry of the
heaven” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1867): poor, sees the misery of his people, and cares for
Murder or manslaughter (see Gen 4:10, Cain killing his those who are least and for the oppressed (cf. Ex. 3:7;
brother Abel); the sin of the Sodomites (homosexual 22:20-26). The same teaching can be found in the Deu-
acts, see Gen 18:20 and Gen 19:13); oppression of the teronomic Code (cf. Dt. 12-26); here, the teaching on
poor (see Ex 3:7-10 and Ex 22:20-22); injustice to the rights is transformed into a manifesto of human dig-
wage-earner (see Deut 24:14-15 and Jas 5:4). nity, particularly in favor of the threefold category of
The Church therefore always condemns abor- the orphan, the widow, and the stranger (cf. Dt. 24:17).
tion (the greatest crime of all, since it denies an in- The ancient precepts of Exodus are recalled and ap-
nocent child the possibility of existence) and homo- plied to the moment in the preaching of the prophets,
sexual acts, which are a grave deviation. However, the who represent the critical conscience of Israel.
Church also condemns economic crimes, which can The prophets Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, and
also cause the loss of souls and the suffering of en- Jeremiah have entire chapters denouncing injustice.
tire peoples. And it’s on this point that this document Amos bitterly decries the oppression of the poor and
brings an interesting novelty: whereas many groups his listeners’ failure to recognize any fundamental hu-
today tend to oppose these two types of sin and focus man dignity in the destitute (cf. Am. 2:6-7; 4:1; 5:11-
on only one (either abortion or social justice): pro-life 12). Isaiah pronounces a curse against those who
groups denouncing abortion, but not dealing with eco- trample on the rights of the poor, denying them all
nomic injustices and, similarly, groups dealing with justice: “Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
social justice who will rather overlook moral crimes and the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn
like abortion, or even accept them. aside the needy from justice” (Is. 10:1-2).
To this dichotomic vision of things, this document This prophetic teaching is echoed in Wisdom Lit-
responds that a true Christian must not make this sep- erature. For example, Sirach equates the oppression
aration, but rather must deal with both types of attack of the poor with murder: “To take away a neighbor’s
on the dignity of the person. The document also con- living is to murder him; to deprive an employee of his
demns new types of sins against the human person wages is to shed blood” (Sir. 34:22). In the Psalms, the
that didn’t exist just a few years ago: gender theory, religious relationship with God comes through the de-
which seeks to deny the difference between man and fense of the weak and needy: “Do justice for the weak
woman, surrogate motherhood (mothers who rent and the orphan; give justice to the poor and afflicted.
out their bodies to carry the babies of another couple), Rescue the weak and the needy; set them free from
euthanasia and assisted suicide, and so on. the hand of the wicked” (Ps. 82:3-4).

6 MICHAEL May/June/July 2024 www.michaeljournal.org