Folia Theologica 19. (2008)
Hámori Antal: Human dignity in church Teaching
52 HÁMORI, Antal duty of respect. The right to the exercise of freedom, especially in moral and religious matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person. This right must be recognized and protected by civil authority within the limits of the common good and public order.62 But the exercise of freedom does not entail the putative „right" to say or do anything.63 11. Respect of a human person Social justice can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of man. The person represents the ultimate end of society, which is ordered to him: „What is at stake is the dignity of the human person, whose defense and promotion have been entrusted to us by the Creator, and to whom the men and women at every moment of history are strictly and responsibly in debt"64.65 Respect for the human person entails respect for the rights that flow from his dignity as a creature. These rights are prior to society and must be recognized by it. They are the basis of the moral legitimacy of every authority: by flouting them, or refusing to recognize them in its positive legislation, a society undermines its own moral legitimacy.66 If it does not respect them, authority can rely only on force or violence to obtain obedience from its subjects. It is the Church's role to remind men of good will of these rights and to distinguish them from unwarranted or false claims.67 12. Equality and difference between people Created in the image of the one God and equally endowed with rational souls, all men have the same nature and the same origin. Redee62 CCC 1738. Cf. Dignitatis humanae (DH) 2, 7. 63 CCC 1747. 64 Sollicitudo rei socialis 47. 65 CCC 1929. 66 Cf. Pacem in terris 61. 67 CCC 1930. See CCC 1931-1933, 1944 (cf. Mt 5:43-44; 25:40; GS 27).
