PicoBlog

The new Vatican document on Human Dignity—'Dignitas Infinita'—was released this past week and it has stirred up some controversy (as seems typical these days). Rather than react to the headlines, or just to what people are saying about it however, the best thing is to simply read it for yourself.

What I’d like to do here, however, is take you through most of the document and offer you a little “primer,” a short introduction to the various topics that it covers. I’ll break up my paragraphs here by referring to the document sections (§1, §2, etc…), so that you can look up the primary source yourself and see precisely where I’m getting my information and quotations.

Let’s dive in!

Intro—Almost right away (in the opening paragraphs) we've got some good introductory material: "we cannot separate faith from the defense of human dignity, evangelization from the promotion of a dignified life, and spirituality from a commitment to the dignity of every human being." 

§2—I’m honestly not sure how I feel about the usefulness of referring to the United Nations declaration on human rights re: human dignity. Obviously natural recognition of such is good, but how is the UN definition of human dignity going to harmonize with the Church's definition? Maybe good as Status Quaestionis? The definition is good as far as it goes, but it’s going to be inadequate when it comes to a truly Christian anthropology.

§§3-6—Here you’ll find a quick overview of recent pontificates on human dignity, as the document quotes (in succession) St. Paul VI, St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and then Francis. I think the best quotation here may be from Paul VI: “no anthropology equals that of the Church regarding the human person." This is actually a good follow-up to my previous comments regarding my concerns about referring to the United Nations.

Here's another good quote from John Paul II: "If the Church makes herself present in the defense 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." 

§7—This is one of the best parts of the document, as we see some helpful distinctions offered up front regarding the different kinds of human dignity: ontological dignity, moral dignity, social dignity, existential dignity.

These are employed, for instance, to "discern between the moral dignity that de facto can be 'lost' and the ontological dignity that can never be annulled." It is thanks to the human person’s ontological dignity (the dignity that they possess thanks to their nature) that their moral dignity is possible.

And in case any might be tempted to view this as simply an exercise in praise of man regardless of their moral activity, we see the following: "we must work with all our might so that all those who have done evil may repent and convert."

§11—Next up, the document looks into the biblical foundations of our subject, and we find a fundamental truth that can never be repeated enough: "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."

The recognition that our dignity—and ultimately, thus, our nature and identity—is received as a gift, is crucial for a true anthropology. We do not create ourselves, we do not define our natures; we are created, and as such we must recognize the truth, not pretend to create it. 

§13—More surveying the landscape here. It’s amusing that this paragraph goes from the Church Fathers, to the Scholastics, to the Renaissance, and up to the 20th century all in just a few sentences. Here we also get a reference to Thomas Aquinas on the perfection of personhood (citing ST I, 29.3): “Person signifies what is most perfect in all nature—that is, a subsistent individual of a rational nature.”

§15—More here on the intrinsic character of human dignity: either human dignity is intrinsic and given, thus "prior to any recognition," or it's potentially null since it could—in any other theory—be taken away or diminished as easily as it would be granted and recognized. 

§16—There’s a curious statement here: "The Church’s Magisterium progressively developed an ever-greater understanding of the meaning of human dignity, along with its demands and consequences, until it arrived at the recognition that the dignity of every human being prevails beyond all circumstances."

Is it really the case that only in recent decades (centuries?) that the unique dignity of the person has been recognized as prevailing "beyond all circumstances"? Maybe this is just vague... The Tradition seems to speak about the singular character of human beings from the beginning. For this to work, we have to take in a more rhetorical and paraenetic fashion; in other words, modernity has begun to focus in on and emphasize this in a unique way more than ever before.

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§18—Here we get a reminder that the human person is a body-soul composite: "dignity is also inherent in each person’s body, which participates in its own way in being in imago Dei... and is also called to share in the soul’s glory in the divine beatitude." I can see how this will be important later on with the document leading to issues of the body in relation to the full integrity of the human person (i.e. we are not souls who happen to have bodies, our anthropology is not one of a ghost in a machine).

§19—The Church and the Gospel have inspired institutions that care for, and offer dignity to, those often at risk: "abandoned infants, orphans, the elderly, the mentally ill, people with incurable diseases or severe deformities, those living on the streets." 

§20—I love the eschatological note here: “the dignity of this life is linked not only to its beginning, to the fact that it comes from God, but also to its final end, to its destiny of fellowship with God in knowledge and love of him."

This reminds me of a very well-known C.S. Lewis quote: “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal... But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors" (found in The Weight of Glory).

§22—There is another personal favorite included here: the distinction between "image" and "likeness." All are created in the image of God, that's what it means to be human; we are then called, by this fact, to cultivate our "likeness" to God by our moral activity and, ultimately, sanctity.

Returning to this illuminating Patristic theme connects us back to the start when we saw the various "dignities" spoken of; here's where we can see the link between ontological dignity and moral dignity (etc.). Human beings are created with the possibility of divinization (ontological dignity), and are perfected as this possibility is rendered actual and real as we increase in holiness (moreal dignity).

§§24-25—These paragraphs are so good, it'd be hard to do them justice in such a short space. First, we read that some distort the concept, speak of "personal" dignity, limited to those with personhood, defined in reference to the exercise of intellectual activity. In so doing, many can use this redefinition—a favorite tactic of modernity—to argue that certain human beings should not be granted dignity or rights: unborn children, the elderly and infirm, those with extreme disabilities (mental or otherwise).

The other side of the coin here is the "proliferation of new rights" which are created out of a misapprehended concept of human dignity. Some choice quotations follow: 

"It is as if the ability to express and realize every individual preference or subjective desire should be guaranteed. This perspective identifies dignity with an isolated & individualistic freedom that claims to impose particular subjective desires and propensities as 'rights'." 

And even more: "human dignity cannot be based on merely individualistic standards, nor can it be identified with the psychophysical well-being of the individual...[it is not to be based] on individual arbitrariness or social recognition." 

§27—We have to stop speaking purely of rights, and begin speaking about obligations and duties, what is demanded of us in relation to others: "Human dignity also encompasses the capacity, inherent in human nature, to assume obligations vis-à-vis others."

§28—Part of human dignity means obedience to God's command that we be stewards of creation; it is worthy of us to recognize the goodness of creation, and to see in it the reflection of God's wisdom. No man is an island, this includes the relationship man has to lower creatures. 

§§29-32—Christ is the key to bringing genuine and lasting freedom to the world (citing Galatians 5:1). Further, while human history has seen great and real advances in understanding dignity and freedom, it has not come without concurrent "shadows and risks of regression." 

§34—Here the document begins to speak of grave violations of dignity: "murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, and willful suicide, mutilation, physical and mental torture, undue psychological pressures, subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery...” and further, "prostitution, the selling of women & children, degrading working conditions."

And controversially—in light of debates in recent years—the document speaks of the impermissibility of the death penalty. I don't see how this follows to be totally honest, but I don't want this becoming just another essay on the death penalty—something that philosopher Ed Feser, for instance, has spent a huge amount of time on—so we move on. 

§§36-42—Here we have reiterations of previous teaching regarding the evils of (primarily) poverty, war, and human trafficking; as far as I can tell, there's nothing new here. 

§§43-46—Here it covers the topic of sexual violence, and especially violence against women. These are some really great, pithy paragraphs. Here they include some cutting comments made by JP2: 

"The time has come to condemn vigorously the types of sexual violence which frequently have women for their object and to pass laws which effectively defend them from such violence. Nor can we fail, in the name of the respect due to the human person, to condemn the widespread hedonistic and commercial culture which encourages the systematic exploitation of sexuality and corrupts even very young girls into letting their bodies be used for profit.”

Violence against women comes in many forms, and they all need condemnation. Two more topics are mentioned that disproportionately affect women: coercive abortions and polygamy. Recognized as equally offending the dignity of men and women, it's stated frankly that these are perpetrated "often to satisfy the selfishness of males." 

§47—Here we come at last to the more hot-button issues that many expected to be contained in the document. With this paragraph, we are introduced to the grave evil and cultural errors of abortion. Returning again to John Paul II: "The acceptance of abortion in the popular mind, in behavior, and even in law itself is a telling sign of an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense, which is becoming more and more incapable of distinguishing between good and evil." 

§§48-50—Into the topic of surrogacy. Here Pope Francis himself is quoted: "I deem deplorable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child."

Now some may see this quote as merely touching upon transactionalism. But the document immediately clarifies precisely what it's talking about: "First and foremost, the practice of surrogacy violates the dignity of the child; the child has the right to have a fully human (and not artificially induced) origin and to receive the gift of a life that manifests both the dignity of the giver and that of the receiver."

Simply put: surrogacy attacks the fundamental relationship of mother and child. Too many in contemporary debates appeal to emotion and the noble desire to beget and raise children, but "the legitimate desire to have a child cannot be transformed into a 'right to a child' that fails to respect the dignity of that child as the recipient of the gift of life." 

§§51-52—Up next for deconstruction is euthanasia and what is often referred to "death with dignity," which the document rightly excoriates, showing just how false this notion is. Assisted suicide has nothing to do with the protection of dignity.

Helpfully, the objection is worded quite clearly: "helping the suicidal person to take his or her own life is an objective offense against the dignity of the person asking for it, even if one would be thereby fulfilling the person’s wish." 

Death is something received, and is not to be artificially hastened. "Life is a right, not death, which must be welcomed, not administered. And this ethical principle concerns everyone, not just Christians or believers." Again, rightly, appeal to both faith and reason.

§§53-54—Here we see more calls for care of those particularly at risk of being taken advantage of, people with disabilities that the culture tends to discard and despise: "our time is not known for such care; rather, a 'throwaway culture' is increasingly imposing itself." 

§§55-60—These paragraphs bring up what may end up being the most controversial section of the whole paragraph: the issue of sexuality and gender theory. Strategically these have been placed at the very end of the document, a classic rhetorical technique.

First off, we are reminded of universal human dignity: "it should be denounced as contrary to human dignity the fact that, in some places, not a few people are imprisoned, tortured, and even deprived of the good of life solely because of their sexual orientation."

After this necessary and true baseline, we get a real home-run of a statement. Here we read of "ideological colonization, in which gender theory plays a central role; the latter is extremely dangerous since it cancels differences in its claim to make everyone equal." The danger of "gender theory" is that it militates against the very dignity that it (falsely) purports to defend.

Francis' use of the language of colonization is apropos in an age that is uniquely offended by the idea; "ideological colonization" is a perfect turn of phrase. "Desiring a personal self-determination, as gender theory prescribes, apart from this...truth that human life is a gift, amounts to a concession to the age-old temptation to make oneself God, entering into competition with the true God of love revealed to us in the Gospel.” Here again we recall the necessity of seeing the human person as body-soul unity.

We read: "respect for both one’s own body and that of others is crucial in light of the proliferation of claims to new rights advanced by gender theory." The body is a gift, to be received. And there it is, just what I was recalling, and here it crops up explicitly: "when it comes to sex change... humans are inseparably composed of both body and soul. In this, the body serves as the living context in which the interiority of the soul unfolds and manifests itself." 

This section concludes by the reaffirmation that "creation is prior to us," and that while difficulties and obstacles may be present, and medical interventions may be necessary for various reasons, this isn't an admission of the possibility of actually altering one's given nature.

§§61-62—And in what amounts to a bit of a strange —though truthful enough—choice to end the document: the dangers of social media and the digital world. "Digital media can expose people to the risk of addiction, isolation, and gradual loss of contact with concrete reality." 

Here we see the "dark side" of digital progress: “people’s lives are combed over, laid bare and bandied about, often anonymously. Respect for others disintegrates, and even as we dismiss, ignore, or keep others distant, we can shamelessly peer into every detail of their lives."

§64—Supremacy of the common good! "The Church, with the present Declaration, ardently urges that respect for the dignity of the human person beyond all circumstances be placed at the center of the commitment to the common good." 

§66—Christ is the one who reveals man to himself. Christ is the alpha and omega: "The Church does this with hope, confident of the power that flows from the Risen Christ, who has fully revealed the integral dignity of every man and woman."

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