The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued the declaration Dignitas Infinita (Infinite Dignity) on human dignity last Monday, addressing growing concerns about pressing bioethical issues. The document affirms that being a Christian means defending human dignity and that must necessarily include opposing abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide, surrogacy, gender theory, so-called gender transition surgery, sexual abuse, and human trafficking. It also emphasizes the inherent dignity of every human being, including people living in poverty, migrants, those who have been affected by war, victims of all kinds of violence, and people with disabilities.
In the opening section, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, dicastery prefect, mentions that the document addresses some of the “current and problematic situations in which the immense and inalienable dignity due to every human being is not sufficiently recognized” and explains that “the Church sees the condemnation of these grave and current violations of human dignity as a necessary measure, for she sustains the deep conviction that we cannot separate faith from the defense of human dignity, evangelization from the promotion of a dignified life, and spiritually from a commitment to the dignity of every human being.” The document has received widespread praise within the Church, being described as a compelling rearticulation of the Church’s teaching on human dignity.
To read Dignitas Infinita in English, click here.