CCBI News: Dignitas Infinita (Infinite Dignity) – An Introduction

April 22, 2024

Dear Friends of CCBI,

Dignitas Infinita
Declaration by the Dicastery for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Over the years there have been many questions about the interpretation of ‘dignity,’ with varying conclusions. Few stances take into consideration the God-given nature of the human person and the Catholic approach that accepts God as Creator, and ourselves as made in his image and likeness. As such, we are creatures with inherent dignity, worth and standing, radically equal in God’s sight.

Dignitas infinita, published on April 2 by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith after a five-year drafting period, tells us right at the beginning that the document was written in pursuit of “…the drafting of a text highlighting the indispensable nature of the dignity of the human person in Christian anthropology and illustrating the significance and beneficial implications of the concept in the social, political, and economic realms—while also taking into account the latest developments on the subject in academia and the ambivalent ways in which the concept is understood today.”

This is clearly a broadly-based document, tasked with formulating an anthropology of dignity with many layers, all within the matrix of faith in the resurrected Christ who died to save us from our sins against each other and each other’s dignity.

The Prefect of the Dicastery, Cardinal Fernandez, notes that Pope Francis “… 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.” In recognition of the Holy Father’s directions, the committee made a thorough review of Fratelli Tutti, in which Pope Francis had already referred to some of the topics which Dignitas infinita restates and develops.

In Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis “…summoned all people to defend human dignity in every cultural context and every moment of human existence, regardless of physical, psychological, social, or even moral deficiencies.” The Declaration tries to amplify this call, also agreeing with Pope St. John Paul II’s affirmation that human dignity is “a Gospel value that cannot be despised without greatly offending the Creator.”  Values such as human freedom, freedom of religion, freedom from coercion, rights to housing, food, health care and education, i.e., the necessities of life and, of course, life itself, are essential for human dignity to be maintained and nurtured.

I find it interesting that there is a blend of what is sometimes thought of as ‘more important’ moral values — protection of life, the wrongness of euthanasia, etc., — more directly linked with Catholic Social Teaching, whereas the reality is that both areas call for the high moral values which the Church promotes and protects. Pope John Paul wrote: “If the Church makes herself present in the defence of, or in the advancement of human dignity, she does so in line with her mission, which, although it is religious and not social or political, cannot fail to consider man in the entirety of his being.” (Emphasis added)

This sounds the same note as Pope Francis’ request to the Dicastery: make sure to emphasize all wrongs against human dignity by including trafficking, surrogacy, gender ideology, and so on. Dignitas infinita has a broad sweep, necessary in developing and applying a fuller Christian anthropology. It notes that Pope Francis had affirmed that “the wellspring of human dignity and fraternity is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” but the Pope also reminds us that human reason can arrive at these conclusions through experience and observation:

…the dignity of others is to be respected in all circumstances, not because that dignity is something we have invented or imagined, but because human beings possess an intrinsic worth superior to that of material objects and contingent situations. This requires that they be treated differently. That every human being possesses an inalienable dignity is a truth that corresponds to human nature apart from all cultural change.

This means that no circumstance serves to remove human dignity. Pope Francis makes the fundamental statement:

…human beings have the same inviolable dignity in every age of history, and no one can consider himself or herself authorized by particular situations to deny this conviction or to act against it.

Dignitas infinita reiterates the teaching of the Catholic Church in all spheres: human beings have an infinite dignity, a limitless dignity, which is ignored and attacked by many current approaches to individuals, groups and societies.

Next week we will look at some of the Declaration’s specific teachings and its implications for continuing to protect human dignity, including in Bioethics.

Declaration “Dignitas Infinita” on Human Dignity (2 April 2024) (vatican.va)

Pope Francis’ Intentions for April: For the Role of Women

We pray that the dignity and immense value of women be recognized in every culture, and for the end of discrimination that they experience in different parts of the world.

Moira and Bambi