In April 2024, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (the Holy See’s institution responsible for the religious discipline of the Catholic Church) published the declaration Dignitas Infinita. The document contributes to the theological argumentation of human dignity as an ontological feature of every human being and clarifies the teachings of the Catholic Church on dignity-related issues, including those traditionally the subject of the Holy See’s focus (such as family ethics, poverty, and war) and those that are virtually new (such as human dignity and digital technologies).
The declaration has further developed the position of the Catholic Church on socially sensitive issues such as abortions, gender, and human rights for LGBTQ+ people. As a result, the declaration has predictably provoked mixed reactions from individuals and groups across the political spectrum.
In this series, theologians and political and legal scholars reflect on the declaration and explore if and how the document advances the Church’s teachings on human dignity, how it can help address dignity-related threats, and how it might (or might not) strengthen dignity as a basic value of human societies.
Posts in the series:
Antonio Autiero. Dignitas Infinita. A Theological Commentary
Paolo Carozza. Developing Our Understanding of Human Dignity for the Digital Age
Ingeborg G. Gabriel. Dignitas Infinita—Infinite Dignity. A Compendium of Catholic Ethics—and a Missed Chance
Rev. Thomas Massaro, S.J. Theological Perspectives on the Document Dignitas Infinita
Francisca Pérez-Madrid. What Does Dignitas Infinita Say about Gender?
Benedetta Vimercati. Why Should Human Dignity Be Defined as Infinite? Brief Reflections on Dignitas Infinita