The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith recently published the declaration Dignitas infinita. This document, approved by the Holy Father Francis, speaks to the Church and the world, exploring the concept of human dignity and shedding light wherever confusion has begun to prevail. So, let us allow ourselves to be enlightened too!
What is it about?
Work on the document began in 2019 with the aim of highlighting the indispensability of the concept of the dignity of the human person.
The text operates within a precise framework: the apparent conflict between attacks on human dignity on an ethical level - it therefore addresses the issues of abortion, euthanasia, surrogacy, and gender theory - and on a social level - poverty, war, and migrants.
There can be no division on these two levels. With Dignitas infinita, in fact, the Church emphasizes that faith cannot be separated from the defense of human dignity, the spread of the Gospel from the promotion of life, or spiritual life from the commitment to a dignified existence for all.
Pope Francis’ perspective
Pope Francis’ concern for the most vulnerable and forgotten has given rise to this document which, while not exhausting the topics surrounding the sacredness of the person, draws attention once again to issues that, in the whirlpool of life, may appear to be “resolved” through subtle impositions of theories and thoughts disguised as “respect”.
Harmony between Revelation and reason
The document focuses on the concept, both ancient and forgotten, that human beings do not create their nature but possess it as a gift received.
This reality has always been proclaimed by the Church in the light of Revelation: here the truth is revealed about the person created in the image and likeness of God and redeemed by his Son Jesus.
This principle is fully recognizable by reason alone and provides the foundation for the primacy of the person and the defense of their inviolable rights.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The document recalls the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (December 10, 1948), on its 75th anniversary, which Saint John Paul II had defined as: “A milestone set along the long and difficult journey of the human race.” Today, the Church invites us to implement the UN document in order to recall that ontological dignity of the person, which cannot arbitrarily justify the multiplication of “new” rights in direct conflict with the fundamental right to life, to a dignified life, and to respect for it from conception until its natural end.
Infinite Dignity calls us to reflect on the greatness and sacredness of every person. It certainly demolishes many commonplaces of the thinking that is imposing itself on society today through widespread dissemination in every area of life via the media.
The Church gives us an illuminating document to remind us who we are and to restore clarity and truth in an age that threatens to erase all points of reference.
