Saint John Paul II stated that, “this heightened sense of the dignity of the human person and of his or her uniqueness, and of the respect due to the journey of conscience, certainly represents one of the positive achievements of modern culture.” 57Saint John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor (6 August 1993), 31: AAS 85 (1993), 1159. This statement follows the line already laid out by the Second Vatican Council, which had noted a growing recognition of the sublime dignity of all persons, their superiority over material things and their universal and inviolable rights and duties. 58Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 26: AAS 58 (1966), 1046-1047. It is important to ensure that this growth in appreciation of human dignity is not obscured by the pressure of new ideologies or very powerful interests in today’s world. Among these ideologies, I consider particularly insidious the one that suggests that every person must earn or justify his or her own worth, to the point of attributing greater value to those who are more efficient or effective. From this perspective, persons end up being reduced to a means of achieving results, a resource to be used and exploited, and are no longer recognized as a proper end in themselves who should never be instrumentalized. The value of persons, however, does not depend on what they achieve or produce. There are rights that apply to everyone simply by virtue of being human, and no human power can legitimately deny or arbitrarily limit them. 59Cf. Saint John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 11: AAS 83 (1991), 806-807.
When we speak of dignity, we do not always use the word in the same way. Sometimes we refer to moral dignity, namely the way in which a person directs his or her choices and actions. At other times, we think of social dignity, which refers to a person’s living conditions and the concrete respect received from society. In other cases, we refer to existential dignity, meaning the way in which a person perceives his or her own worth and the value of life. These aspects of dignity can be enhanced or diminished. In addition to these notions, there is also the more profound and important level of ontological dignity. This is the dignity that belongs to every human being simply by virtue of existing, of having been willed, created and loved by God. 60Cf. Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dignitas Infinita (2 April 2024), 7: AAS 116 (2024), 592-593. No sin, failure, humiliation or exclusion can diminish the profound value of a human life that God has willed and called into being. 61Cf. ibid., 8: AAS 116 (2024), 593-594.
The fundamental dignity of each person, therefore, is neither acquired nor earned, nor does it need to be justified. The recent Declaration Dignitas Infinita offers a summary of the Church’s thinking on this subject: “Every human person possesses an infinite dignity, inalienably grounded in his or her very being, which prevails in and beyond every circumstance, state, or situation the person may ever encounter” 62Ibid., 1: AAS 116 (2024), 589-590. — in other words, always and without exception. The dignity of every human being can be described as infinite, as Saint John Paul II stated, 63Cf. Saint John Paul II, Angelus with disabled people in the Cathedral of Osnabrück (16 November 1980): Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, vol. III/2, Vatican City 1980, 1232. for two reasons: first, because the love of God, who calls us to friendship with him, is infinite; and second, his love is absolutely unconditional, in the sense that, even if we search endlessly, we will never find anything that can erase or deny it.