Skimming Through ‘Dignitas Infinita’: The Church’s New Document on Human Dignity

By Lavoisier Fernandes –

While the World eagerly watched the stunning images of the total solar eclipse, the Catholic Church celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. Also, in Catholic news headlines on the same morning of 8^th April 8, 2024, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) promulgated an important new declaration entitled “Dignitas Infinita” On Human Dignity.

The 23-page document went through several preparatory drafts over the past five years and has been approved by Pope Francis, making it therefore magisterial. The primary author of the document is DDF Prefect Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez.

The document is rich whilst also making it challenging to fully implement and digest. However, the document emphasises Pope Francis’ pastoral vision and the recurring themes of his pontificate. The declaration seeks to recalibrate Catholic moral teaching of defending life from the “womb to the tomb,”  thus reaffirming Catholic Church’s traditional teaching on abortion, euthanasia, and assisted suicide, but also updates it by denouncing some newer forms of violation of that dignity in the 21st century, such as surrogacy, promotion of gender theory, poverty, lack of basic education, disability discrimination, the situation of migrants, healthcare discrimination based on one’s sexual orientation, human trafficking, war and many other themes.

What is in the cover letter of the document?

In the cover letter of the document, the DDF Prefect Card. Fernández recalled an audience with Pope Francis on Nov. 13, 2023, at which the cardinal presented what he thought was a final draft, Card. Fernández writes: “On this occasion, he also asked that the document highlight topics closely connected to the theme of dignity, such as poverty, the situation of migrants, violence against women, human trafficking, war, and other themes.”

What does the declaration say?

The introduction emphasises the intrinsic and infinite worth of every human being, drawing from Christian anthropology, the teachings of Vatican II, Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict, and Pope Francis, while proposing that Pope Francis’ encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, constitutes a kind of “Magna Carta” of our contemporary tasks to protect and promote human dignity.

The first half of the Declaration offers a comprehensive overview of the Church’s ever-expanding sense of the dignity of the person. The Declaration begins with a bold opening:

“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 recognisable even by reason alone, underlies the primacy of the human person and the protection of human rights. In the light of Revelation, the Church resolutely reiterates and confirms the ontological dignity of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God and redeemed in Jesus Christ.”

Dignity is intrinsic and the different types of dignity:

The document details the different types of dignity – ontological, moral, social, and existential – and roots the idea of dignity in the biblical narrative: “Born and raised in humble conditions, Jesus reveals the dignity of the needy and those who labour. Then, throughout his public ministry, he affirms the value and dignity of all who bear the image of God, regardless of their social status and external circumstances” (P 12).

“We do not create our nature,” it says (P9).

“Our dignity is bestowed upon us by God; it is neither claimed nor deserved” (P11).

Dignity is intrinsic, it is “not something granted to the person by others” (P15).”To clarify the concept of dignity even further, it is essential to point out that dignity is not something granted to the person by others based on their gifts or qualities, such that it could be withdrawn. (P15)

The 13 contemporary challenges and misconceptions about human dignity

The second half of the declaration pays attention to some of the grave violations of human dignity that are particularly relevant. A few excerpts:

1. Drama of Poverty

(P37) – With Pope Francis, therefore, one must conclude that “wealth has increased, but together with inequality, with the result that ‘new forms of poverty are emerging.’ The claim that the modern world has reduced poverty is made by measuring poverty with criteria from the past that do not correspond to present-day realities.”

2. War

(P38)- “War, terrorist attacks, racial or religious persecution, and many other affronts to human dignity have become so common as to constitute a real ‘third world war’ fought piecemeal. All wars, by the mere fact that they contradict human dignity, are “conflicts that will not solve problems but only increase them.”

3. The Travail of Migrants

(P40) – “Migrants are among the first victims of multiple forms of poverty. Not only is their dignity denied in their home countries, but also their lives are put at risk because they no longer have the means to start a family, to work, or to feed themselves.”

4. Human Trafficking

(P41&42)- “Human trafficking must also be counted among the grave violations of human dignity. The Church and humanity must not cease fighting against such phenomena as “the marketing of human organs and tissues, the sexual exploitation of boys and girls, slave labour, including prostitution, the drug and weapons trade, terrorism, and international organised crime.”

5. Sexual Abuse

(P43) – “The profound dignity inherent in human beings in their entirety of mind and body also allows us to understand why all sexual abuse leaves deep scars in the hearts of those who suffer it. This phenomenon is widespread in society, and it also affects the Church and represents a serious obstacle to her mission.”

6. Violence Against Women

(P 44&46) – “Violence against women is a global scandal that is gaining increasing recognition. As Pope Francis reiterated, “Our love for Mary must help us to feel appreciation and gratitude for women, for our mothers and grandmothers, who are a bastion in the life in our cities. Almost always in silence, they carry life forward. It is the silence and strength of hope.”

7. Abortion

(P47) – “Unborn children are, thus, “the most defenseless and innocent among us. Nowadays, efforts are made to deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this.”

8. Surrogacy

(P48) – “The Church also takes a stand against the practice of surrogacy. Pope Francis’s words have a singular clarity: “The path to peace calls for respect for life, for every human life, starting with the life of the unborn child in the mother’s womb, which cannot be suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking.”

9. Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

(P51)  – “There is a special case of human dignity violation that is quieter but is swiftly gaining ground. For example, laws permitting euthanasia or assisted suicide are sometimes called “death with dignity acts.”

10. The Marginalization of People with Disabilities

(P53) – “The question of human imperfection also carries clear socio-cultural implications since some cultures tend to marginalize or even oppress individuals with disabilities, treating them as “rejects.” However, the truth is that each human being, regardless of their vulnerabilities, receives his or her dignity from the sole fact of being willed and loved by God.”

11. Gender Theory

(P55) – “The Church wishes, first of all, “to reaffirm that every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration, while ‘every sign of unjust discrimination’ is to be carefully avoided, particularly any form of aggression and violence.”

Paragraph 59 “We cannot separate the masculine and the feminine from God’s work of creation, which is prior to all our decisions and experiences, and where biological elements exist which are impossible to ignore.”

12. Sex Change

(P 60) – “ The dignity of the body cannot be considered inferior to that of the person as such. It follows that any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception. This is not to exclude the possibility that a person with genital abnormalities that are already evident at birth or that develop later may choose to receive the assistance of healthcare professionals to resolve these abnormalities. However, in this case, such a medical procedure would not constitute a sex change in the sense intended here.”

13. Digital Violence

(P61) – “Indeed, ‘the digital environment is also one of loneliness, manipulation, exploitation, and violence, even to the extreme case of the ‘dark web.’ Digital media can expose people to the risk of addiction, isolation, and gradual loss of contact with concrete reality, blocking the development of authentic interpersonal relationships. New forms of violence are spreading through social media, for example, cyberbullying.”