This is a quote from a recent Church declaration Dignitas Infinita on human dignity commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December 1948.
We don’t need to be convinced that we possess dignity – we just know that we have it. We are particularly aware of it when we sense that our dignity is being undermined or threatened.
A particular contribution that Christianity and the Church makes to our understanding of human dignity is to remind us that our dignity is given to us by God, and it is never withdrawn. “Our dignity is bestowed upon us by God; it is neither claimed nor deserved. Every human being is loved and willed by God and thus has an inviolable dignity.” (11)
It continues, “Dignity is not something granted to the person by others based on their gifts or qualities such that it can be withdrawn … Dignity is intrinsic to the person … it cannot be lost.” (15) Delving a little deeper, the Church says we possess this dignity because we are made in the very image and likeness of God and redeemed by Jesus Christ (1); because in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, God has united himself with every human being (19); and because each of us is called to communion with God for all eternity (20).
Whilst we are generally protective of our own dignity, our collective history and perhaps our own experiences confront us with the reality that we don’t always protect and promote the dignity of others as we should. In fact, it was the en masse inhumane treatment of millions of human beings in the twentieth century that prompted the need for an explicit declaration of every person’s rights and dignity in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
A person’s dignity is infringed whenever due respect is not given to their rights to life, to freedom, to profess their religion, to the essential things they need, and to participate in society (4). Whilst a person’s dignity might be infringed because of their living conditions or by illness, violence, addictions, and other hardships (7-8), our dignity as such can never be lost because as a member of the human species we are willed, created, and loved by God. (7 & 24)
Many of the Church’s teachings and customs on matters to do with life and death, sexuality, justice, poverty, migration, war and more besides might not always be understood or accepted by everybody. But they have their foundation in the infinite dignity possessed by every person from conception till natural death and in our duty to strive to live up to the full measure of this dignity. (22)
It is this same commitment to human dignity that propels so many good people to give of their time, talents, and money to protect and promote the dignity of those at risk, for “the arduous journey of advancing human dignity remains far from completion.” (32) As so many people suffer from war and violence, from injustice and discrimination, from poverty and illness, may we all play our part in this important journey of protecting and advancing human dignity – one person at a time.
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