Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

The fundamental message of Sacred Scripture proclaims that the human person is a creature of God (cf. Ps 139:14-18), and sees in his being in the image of God the element that characterizes and distinguishes him: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27). God places the human creature at the centre and summit of the created order. Man (in Hebrew, “adam”) is formed from the earth (“adamah”) and God blows into his nostrils the breath of life (cf. Gen 2:7). Therefore, “being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. Further, he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead”^{204Catechism of the Catholic Church, 357.}.

The likeness with God shows that the essence and existence of man are constitutively related to God in the most profound manner.^{205Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 356, 358.} This is a relationship that exists in itself, it is therefore not something that comes afterwards and is not added from the outside. The whole of man's life is a quest and a search for God. This relationship with God can be ignored or even forgotten or dismissed, but it can never be eliminated. Indeed, among all the world's visible creatures, only man has a “capacity for God” (“homo est Dei capax”).^{206Catechism of the Catholic Church, title of Chapter 1, Section 1, Part 1; cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 12: AAS 58 (1966), 1034; John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 34: AAS 87 (1995), 440.} The human being is a personal being created by God to be in relationship with him; man finds life and self-expression only in relationship, and tends naturally to God.^{207Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 35: AAS 87 (1995), 440-441; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1721.}

The relationship between God and man is reflected in the relational and social dimension of human nature. Man, in fact, is not a solitary being, but “a social being, and unless he relates himself to others he can neither live nor develop his potential”^{208Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 12: AAS 58 (1966), 1034.}. In this regard the fact that God created human beings as man and woman (cf. Gen 1:27) is significant^{209Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 369.}: “How very significant is the dissatisfaction which marks man's life in Eden as long as his sole point of reference is the world of plants and animals (cf. Gen 2:20). Only the appearance of the woman, a being who is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones (cf. Gen 2:23), and in whom the spirit of God the Creator is also alive, can satisfy the need for interpersonal dialogue, so vital for human existence. In one's neighbour, whether man or woman, there is a reflection of God himself, the definitive goal and fulfilment of every person”^{210John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 35: AAS 87 (1995), 440.}.

Man and woman have the same dignity and are of equal value^{211Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2334.}, not only because they are both, in their differences, created in the image of God, but even more profoundly because the dynamic of reciprocity that gives life to the “we” in the human couple, is an image of God^{212Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 371.}. In a relationship of mutual communion, man and woman fulfil themselves in a profound way, rediscovering themselves as persons through the sincere gift of themselves^{213Cf. John Paul II, Letter to Families Gratissimam Sane, 6, 8, 14, 16, 19-20: AAS 86 (1994), 873-874, 876-878, 899-903, 910-919.}. Their covenant of union is presented in Sacred Scripture as an image of the Covenant of God with man (cf. Hos 1-3; Is 54; Eph 5:21-33) and, at the same time, as a service to life^{214Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 50-51: AAS 58 (1966), 1070-1072.}. Indeed, the human couple can participate in God's act of creation: “God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it' “ (Gen 1:28).

Man and woman are in relationship with others above all as those to whom the lives of others have been entrusted^{215Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 19: AAS 87 (1995), 421-422.}. “For your lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning, ... I will require it ... of man [and] of every man's brother” (Gen 9:5), God tells Noah after the flood. In this perspective, the relationship with God requires that the life of man be considered sacred and inviolable^{216Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2258.}. The fifth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” (Ex 20:13; Deut 5:17), has validity because God alone is Lord of life and death^{217Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 27: AAS 58 (1966), 1047-1048; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2259-2261.}. The respect owed to the inviolability and integrity of physical life finds its climax in the positive commandment: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Lev 19:18), by which Jesus enjoins the obligation to tend to the needs of one's neighbour (cf. Mt 22:37-40; Mk 12:29-31; Lk 10:27-28).

With this specific vocation to life, man and woman find themselves also in the presence of all the other creatures. They can and are obliged to put them at their own service and to enjoy them, but their dominion over the world requires the exercise of responsibility, it is not a freedom of arbitrary and selfish exploitation. All of creation in fact has value and is “good” (cf. Gen 1:4,10,12,18,21,25) in the sight of God, who is its author. Man must discover and respect its value. This is a marvellous challenge to his intellect, which should lift him up as on wings ^{218Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio, proem: AAS 91 (1999), 5.} towards the contemplation of the truth of all God's creatures, that is, the contemplation of what God sees as good in them. The Book of Genesis teaches that human dominion over the world consists in naming things (cf. Gen 2:19-20). In giving things their names, man must recognize them for what they are and establish with each of them a relationship of responsibility^{219Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 373.}.

Man is also in relationship with himself and is able to reflect on himself. Sacred Scripture speaks in this regard about the heart of man. The heart designates man's inner spirituality, what distinguishes him from every other creature. God “has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man's mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (Eccles 3:11). In the end, the heart indicates the spiritual faculties which most properly belong to man, which are his prerogatives insofar as he is created in the image of his Creator: reason, the discernment of good and evil, free will^{220Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 34: AAS 87 (1995), 438-440.}. When he listens to the deep aspirations of his heart, no person can fail to make his own the words of truth expressed by Saint Augustine: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you”^{221Saint Augustine, Confessions, I, 1: PL 32, 661: “Tu excitas, ut laudare te delectet; quia fecisti nos ad te, et inquietum est cor nostrum, donec requiescat in te”.}.