Dignitas Infinita

On April 8, 2024, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released a declaration titled “Dignitas Infinita,” the primary concern of which was elucidating what “human dignity” means in truth. The document started with a brief history of how it was compiled over several years, facing many rejections, revisions, and re-submissions on its journey to eventually obtain papal approval.

The title of the document, Dignitas Infinita, is Latin for Infinite Dignity, and concerns a quote from Pope St. John Paul II in which he described the dignity of people living with disabilities and other limitations as “infinite,” that is to say, transcending “all outward appearance and specific aspects of people’s lives.” The aim of the document is–in part–to put forth in writing the Church’s teaching on matters of human dignity which the secular world often has a lacking, incomplete, twisted, and/or contrary understanding of.

Pope St. Paul VI was quoted in the document, affirming that “no anthropology equals that of the Church regarding the human person–particularly concerning the person’s… dignity, the intangibility and richness of the person’s fundamental rights, sacredness, [etc.]…” Specifically related to the dignity of the human person, the Church and the broader world differ in one crucial way. The Church views the dignity of the human person as coming from God; it is not written in a founding document in a government building, nor is it dependent on ability, nor beauty, nor on an abstract idea of a ‘social contract’; it is not even written in Dignitas Infinita; it comes as a free gift from God. This gift of dignity is, according to the document, an “original datum (something given) that is to be acknowledged faithfully and welcomed with gratitude.”

Pope Francis very succinctly synthesizes these ontological truths of who we are in the following quote,

“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.”

Dignity isn’t dependent upon or dictated by any law or theory the world can write down or imagine. This doesn’t mean that human dignity is nebulous or subjective or unknowable; there is a correct answer to what human dignity is. Just because the origin of dignity is beyond this world doesn’t mean we can’t know anything about it. Dignity is real, and it mandates action. Pope Francis furthers, 

“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.”

Dignity isn’t truly dependent on culture, but when the culture erroneously believes that dignity is dependent on it, great abuses follow. As a result, the phrase “Human Dignity,” which works for the well-being of the human race when understood well, works against its well-being when understood poorly. Quoting Dignitas Infinita, “…the phrase ‘the dignity of the human person’ risks lending itself to a variety of interpretations that can yield potential ambiguities.”

Some of the ambiguities that cause and perpetuate abuse are pretty extensively listed under the document’s subtitle, “Some Grave Violations of Human Dignity.” This subheading includes portions discussing poverty, war, the travail of migrants, human trafficking, sexual abuse, violence against women, abortion, surrogacy, euthanasia, the marginalization of people with disabilities, gender theory, sex change procedures, and digital violence.

This article will not be able to delve into every violation of human dignity listed in the document, but will focus on only a few of the issues most pressing and harmful in our immediate periphery. This article also aims to address the issues on which the most misinformation arises. It is quite likely that you or someone you know is incorrect about one of these issues; perhaps many, if not most people are confused about most of these issues.

Concerning violence against women, Pope St. John Paul II recognized that “much remains to be done to prevent discrimination against those who have chosen to be wives and mothers.” Pope St. John Paul II continues, “Nor can we fail… 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.”

Concerning abortion, abortion is grave evil often coerced – whether formally or informally – against a mother and her child by the wiles of selfish men; the document calls for the same generous and courageous commitment to the defense of every person conceived that St. Teresa of Calcutta undertook her whole life. Because abortion is a crime that violates the “most defenseless and innocent among us,” and is often talked about with a vague and “ambiguous terminology… [tending] to hide abortion’s true nature and to attenuate its seriousness in [the] public opinion,” the document quotes Isaiah (5:20) lamenting, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.’ The callous evil of abortion cannot be understated, quoting the document, therefore:

“It must be stated with all force and clarity, even in our time, that “this defense of unborn life is closely linked to the defense of each and every other human right.”

When the dignity of human life isn’t acknowledged as coming from an eternal source, the whims of the culture will mislead us even so far as to murder our own children.

Concerning surrogacy, the document decries it, as it reduces the immensely worthy child to a mere object. Surrogacy exploits women in difficult situations and uses them as mules for child trafficking, where babies and mothers’ wombs are bought and sold on a marketplace. Furthermore, “… the child has the right to have a fully human (and not artificially induced) origin,” asserts the document.

Concerning gender theory, Dignitas Infinita is firmly against unjust discrimination, and every form of aggression and violence against people based on sexual orientation. Pope Francis commended the “simple yet clear formulation contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights…” Pope Francis recognizes with sadness how,

“… In recent decades, attempts have been made to introduce new rights that are neither fully consistent with those originally defined nor always acceptable. They have led to instances 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.”

Gender theory is a modern Western invention that runs contrary to human dignity, leading to a “desiring [of] a personal self-determination” against nature and even against God.

Pope Francis encourages and motivates all of us to endeavor to uphold human dignity, concluding the document with the following:
“[This document] is like a master plan, from which many steps have been taken, but many still need to be made, and unfortunately, at times, steps backward have been taken… I am near to all those who, without fanfare, in concrete daily life, fight and personally pay the price for defending the rights of those who do not count… I appeal to everyone throughout the world not to forget this dignity which is ours. No one has the right to take it from us.”