Pope Francis: Human dignity must be a ‘common commitment’ of all Christian churches

Vatican City, August 28, 2024 / 12:20 PM

Pope Francis this week congratulated Catholics and Orthodox Christians for their collaboration during the XVII Interchristian Symposium, taking place in Italy from August 28 to 30.

This year’s symposium, entitled “What is Man? In the Time of Anthropological Mutation,” taking place in Trani, Italy, seeks to reflect on the challenges that all Christians face in upholding the dignity of each person in a time of cultural “revolution.”

In the letter he sent to Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and which he wished to share with the organizers and participants of the symposium, the Holy Father said that rapid technological developments have had a profound impact on the way society today thinks about what it means to be human.

“What is happening now can be described as a true revolution,” the pope wrote. “The development of artificial intelligence and the incredible advances in science are forcing today’s men and women to rethink their identity, their role in the world and in society, and their vocation to transcendence.”

“In fact, the specificity of man in all of creation, his uniqueness compared to other animals and even his relationship with machines are constantly being questioned,” he added.

The participants in this year’s symposium, organized by the Franciscan Institute for Spirituality of the Pontifical Antonian University and the Theology Department of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, were encouraged by the Pope to demonstrate a spirit of openness and inclusiveness in order to adequately respond to the anthropological questions raised during the three-day conference.

“It is not possible to respond only with denial and criticism. Rather, what is needed is a profound reflection capable of renewing our thinking and the choices that need to be made,” the Pope said.

“In the light of the teaching of Sacred Scripture and the Christian tradition, it is necessary to reiterate that every human being has the right to dignity, simply by virtue of the fact that he or she exists as a spiritual being created by God,” he added.

Pope Francis stated in his letter that a person’s decision to act or not act “in accordance” with his or her dignity, as well as his or her socio-cultural, political or economic circumstances, should not prevent Christian churches from working together to uphold the dignity of every person.

“The defense of this dignity in the face of very concrete threats such as poverty, war, exploitation and others represents a common commitment for all the churches, on which we must work together,” the Pope urged in his letter.

In April the Vatican published Dignitas infinite (Infinite Dignity), in which the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith emphasized Catholic teaching on the importance of the human person and condemned “serious and actual violations of human dignity” in our time.

The statement describes specific, concrete violations of human dignity recognized by the Church, including human trafficking, sexual abuse, abortion and surrogacy, as well as “digital violence.”

The document reflects Pope Francis’ call to all Christians to “defend human dignity in every cultural context and at every moment of human existence.”