Human Dignity: A vocation to vision

by Bishop Joensen | April 17, 2024

One of my favorite Catholic philosophers, the late Robert Spaemann, devoted a lot of attention to the meaning of human dignity.  He observes that the concept of dignity was largely implied and not explicitly invoked much until the twentieth century, and asks: “Is it because the dignity of humankind was not accepted until [the last] century?  Or because that dignity was never in such jeopardy as it is now?”  He surmises that the answer to both questions might be ‘yes’.  

Regardless, there is still some ambiguity in the concept because it strikes us to be so basic and foundational that it undergirds everything else, especially our sense of human rights.    At the same time, dignity suggests a value and worth that transcends all appearances and contingencies; it “signals something sacred.”

The Germans are known for their precision engineering.  Yet Spaemann, himself German, points out the ambiguity introduced by whoever engineered Article 1 Section 1 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, which states, “Human dignity shall be inviolable.”  

How is one to interpret this clause: in the maximal sense, where individuals are entitled to lay claim to every form of government support, including welfare benefits and subsidies based on subjective preferences, which if denied, evoke the cry, “violation!”?  Or in the minimal sense of inviolability, as expressed by the late heterodox Catholic moral theologian Bruno Schűller: he maintains that an individual only violates personal dignity when someone commits an objective wrong against one’s own conscience.  Using this criterion, if someone believes that assisted suicide is morally justified, or that one can validly, willfully submit to acts of torture or to be trafficked by another, the inviolability of dignity is preserved.  Eeeek!

Human dignity has become a more intense focus for me recently for two reasons: the release earlier this month of the declaration by the Vatican Dicastery (formerly Congregation) for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dignitas infinita/On Human Dignity; and my participation just prior to Holy Week in a “Bishops’ Lenten Experience” with five bishops and others on a pilgrimage of prayer and encounter in the cities of Montgomery and Selma, Alabama.  There we traced the sobering, sordid legacy of slavery and racism in our country that has left us with deep-seated wounds and soul-searing matter for reflection regarding the gains and ongoing gaps in social justice (particularly in connection with current criminal justice practices). 

We were also spurred to honestly face how our Church has responded—in ways both repugnant and redemptive—over the past 150 years in particular.  There are too many threads to either untangle or weave together here, but I offer the following thumbnail summary of the Vatican document. In next month’s edition of The Catholic Mirror, I will share more about my experience in Alabama and how it altered my perspective, and has made me even more intent on addressing social structures that do not respect human dignity. 

Remedy for ambiguity
I find the Vatican document on human dignity to be a much-needed remedy for the ambiguity and polarity among varied construals of dignity I introduced above.  The document is both principled and practical in scope.  The authors trace the development in understandings of human dignity from ancient era to the present.  Christian revelation played a critical contributing role in the eventual elaboration of human rights and objective grounding of human freedom.  I encourage committed readers to engage the Declaration themselves.  

Faith and Reason
Overall, after some recent consternation surrounding the dicastery’s statement on blessings of persons with same-sex orientation, Dignitas infinita (DI) strikes the reader as a more even-keeled document that is generally consistent with the trajectory of biblical and magisterial teaching over two millennia.  It affirms that we can grasp the truth of the infinite, intrinsic, unique, and inalienable nature of human dignity compared to other created beings—even as the latter possess their own inherent goodness, for they all represent God’s creative intention, and are not simply an evolutionary accident. 

A sample of claims:  the givenness of human dignity can be grasped both by human reason and by faith (see DI nn. 1, 6).  It is a truth that transcends culture and history.  The incarnation of Jesus Christ initiates a radical elevation of human dignity for every person, especially those deemed “unworthy” (see n. 19).  The unfolding philosophical and political awareness of the inherent, absolute value of human beings came in fits and starts, and is subject to distortion if left solely to human reason.  While St. Thomas Aquinas was obviously on track when it came to asserting the uniqueness of human identity as created in the image and likeness of God, even spoilers like Descartes and Kant echoed Christian revelation when it comes to the appreciation of our dignity.  

Faith illuminates and reinforces what reason intuits: “Dignity is intrinsic to the person. . . it is prior to any recognition, and it cannot be lost.  All human beings possess this same intrinsic dignity, regardless of whether or not they can express it in a suitable manner” (DI n. 15).  “The unique and transcendent value of every human being “belongs to the person simply because he or she exists and is willed, created, and loved by God” (DI n. 7). Our dignity is bestowed by God and is a guarantee that every human being is “called to communion with God, destined to last forever.”  Our ultimate vocation is to behold God face-to-face; our present vocation is to perceive God’s presence manifested in the face of every human person as a sister and brother in Christ (see DI nn. 20-21).

We cannot be complacent
We cannot presume that everyone—regardless of faith (non-)affiliation—should intuitively affirm the dignity of every member of our species.  In DI, an address of the late Pope Benedict XVI, is cited:  “Without the corrective supplied by religion, though, reason can fall prey to distortions. . . Such misuse of reason, after all, was what gave rise to the slave trade in the first place and to many other social evils” (DI n. 22). 

And it is the sordid legacy of slavery in our country, its residual effects, and those who continue to confront this legacy and stir us to positive engagement, that will form the basis of my reflection next month.

There is hope
The Roman Dicastery’s “Declaration on Human Dignity” concludes with notes of encouragement and hope: 

• The Church “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 and the center of every legal system.” 
• Acknowledging human dignity forms the basis for upholding fundamental human rights, which precede and ground all civic coexistence.” 
• “In political activity, we should remember that ‘appearances notwithstanding, every person is immensely holy and deserves our love and dedication’” (DI nn. 65-66). 

When we together champion human dignity and seek to reflect a clearer sense of personal dignity in our way of beholding one another, and to inscribe the truth of individual dignity in our laws and practices as a people of good sense and great faith, we realize our vocation to communion.