Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

“God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34; cf. Rom 2:11; Gal 2:6; Eph 6:9), since all people have the same dignity as creatures made in his image and likeness^{281Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1934.}. The Incarnation of the Son of God shows the equality of all people with regard to dignity: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28; cf. Rom 10:12; 1 Cor 12:13, Col 3:11). Since something of the glory of God shines on the face of every person, the dignity of every person before God is the basis of the dignity of man before other men^{282Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 29: AAS 58 (1966), 1048-1049.}. Moreover, this is the ultimate foundation of the radical equality and brotherhood among all people, regardless of their race, nation, sex, origin, culture, or class.

Only the recognition of human dignity can make possible the common and personal growth of everyone (cf. Jas 2:1-9). To stimulate this kind of growth it is necessary in particular to help the least, effectively ensuring conditions of equal opportunity for men and women and guaranteeing an objective equality between the different social classes before the law^{283Cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Octogesima Adveniens, 16: AAS 63 (1971), 413.}. Also in relations between peoples and States, conditions of equality and parity are prerequisites for the authentic progress of the international community^{284Cf. John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris, 47-48: AAS 55 (1963), 279- 281; Paul VI, Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations (4 October 1965), 5: AAS 57 (1965), 881; John Paul II, Address to the Fiftieth General Assembly of the United Nations (5 October 1995), 13: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 11 October 1995, p. 9-10.}. Despite the steps taken in this direction, it must not forget that there still exist many inequalities and forms of dependence^{285Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 84: AAS 58 (1966), 1107-1108.}. Together with equality in the recognition of the dignity of each person and of every people there must also be an awareness that it will be possible to safeguard and promote human dignity only if this is done as a community, by the whole of humanity. Only through the mutual action of individuals and peoples sincerely concerned for the good of all men and women can a genuine universal brotherhood be attained^{286Cf. Paul VI, Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations, 5: AAS 57 (1965), 881; Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 43-44: AAS 59 (1967), 278-279.}; otherwise, the persistence of conditions of serious disparity and inequality will make us all poorer.

“Male” and “female” differentiate two individuals of equal dignity, which does not however reflect a static equality, because the specificity of the female is different from the specificity of the male, and this difference in equality is enriching and indispensable for the harmony of life in society: “The condition that will assure the rightful presence of woman in the Church and in society is a more penetrating and accurate consideration of the anthropological foundation for masculinity and femininity with the intent of clarifying woman's personal identity in relation to man, that is, a diversity yet mutual complementarily, not only as it concerns roles to be held and functions to be performed, but also, and more deeply, as it concerns her make-up and meaning as a person”^{287John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici, 50: AAS 81 (1989), 489.}.

Woman is the complement of man, as man is the complement of woman: man and woman complete each other mutually, not only from a physical and psychological point of view, but also ontologically. It is only because of the duality of “male” and “female” that the “human” being becomes a full reality. It is the “unity of the two”^{288John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem, 11: AAS 80 (1988), 1678.}, or in other words a relational “uni-duality”, that allows each person to experience the interpersonal and reciprocal relationship as a gift that at the same time is a mission: “to this ‘unity of the two' God has entrusted not only the work of procreation and family life, but the creation of history itself”^{289John Paul II, Letter to Women, 8: AAS 87 (1995), 808.}. “The woman is ‘a helper' for the man, just as the man is ‘a helper' for the woman!”^{290John Paul II, Sunday Angelus (9 July 1995): L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 12 July 1995, p. 1; cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 11/18 August 2004, pp. 5-8.}: in the encounter of man and woman a unitary conception of the human person is brought about, based not on the logic of self-centredness and self-affirmation, but on that of love and solidarity.

Persons with disabilities are fully human subjects, with rights and duties: “in spite of the limitations and sufferings affecting their bodies and faculties, they point up more clearly the dignity and greatness of man”^{291John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 22: AAS 73 (1981), 634.}. Since persons with disabilities are subjects with all their rights, they are to be helped to participate in every dimension of family and social life at every level accessible to them and according to their possibilities. The rights of persons with disabilities need to be promoted with effective and appropriate measures: “It would be radically unworthy of man, and a denial of our common humanity, to admit to the life of the community, and thus admit to work, only those who are fully functional. To do so would be to practise a serious form of discrimination, that of the strong and healthy against the weak and sick”^{292John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 22: AAS 73 (1981), 634.}. Great attention must be paid not only to the physical and psychological work conditions, to a just wage, to the possibility of promotion and the elimination of obstacles, but also to the affective and sexual dimensions of persons with disabilities: “They too need to love and to be loved, they need tenderness, closeness and intimacy”^{293John Paul II, Message for the International Symposium on the Dignity and Rights of the Mentally Disabled Person, 5 January 2004, 5: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 21 January 2004, p. 6.}, according to their capacities and with respect for the moral order, which is the same for the non-handicapped and the handicapped alike.