' ("Infinite Dignity") is a 2024 declaration on Catholic doctrine that outlines the importance of human dignity, explains its connection to God, and condemns a variety of current violations of human dignity, including

human rights violations Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning t ...

discrimination against women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

and

gender theory Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

. The document is dated 2 April 2024 and was released on 8 April 2024 after a press conference. ''Dignitas Infinita'' was issued by the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...

and approved with a signature by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

. It follows ''

Fiducia Supplicans ("Supplicating Trust") is a 2023 declaration on Catholic doctrine that allows Catholic priests to bless couples who are not married according to church teaching, including same-sex couples. Subtitled "On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings", th ...

'', which was released in 2023. The declaration was generally well-received by Catholic

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and laypeople, although it received criticism from those who argued against the Church's position on many of the issues covered.

Background

Work on ''Dignitas Infinita'' began in 2019, when the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...

(renamed the

in 2022) decided to commence "the drafting of a text highlighting the indispensable nature of the dignity of the human person" in "social, political, and economic realms". After multiple drafts and years of work, in 2023, a draft of the declaration was sent to the Dicastery for review. The Dicastery accepted this amended version, and the text was brought to Pope Francis for review by Víctor Manuel Cardinal Fernández, the head of the Dicastery. The Pope then instructed Cardinal Fernández to place a further emphasis on current violations of human dignity in the declaration, and to make further connections in it to ''

Fratelli Tutti ''Fratelli tutti'' (''All Brothers'') is the third encyclical of Pope Francis, subtitled "on fraternity and social friendship"; it was released in 2020. In the document, Francis states that the way the COVID-19 pandemic was managed by world co ...

,'' a 2020 encyclical by the Pope. By February of 2024, these changes were made, and in a March 2024 audience held with Pope Francis by Cardinal Fernández and Monsignor Matteo, Secretary of the Doctrinal Section, ''Dignitas Infinita'' was ordered to be published. The declaration was originally planned to be released with the name ''Al di là di ogni circostanza ("Beyond any Circumstance"), but ''Dignitas Infinita'' ("Infinite Dignity") was chosen instead. On 6 April 2024, the

Holy See Press Office The Holy See Press Office (; ) is the press office of the Holy See. It publishes the official news of the activities of the Pope and of the various departments of the Roman Curia. All speeches, messages and documents, as well as the statements ...

announced the declaration in a

press release A press release (also known as a media release) is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing new information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public releas ...

. In a press conference held on 8 April, attended by Cardinal Fernández, Monsignor Matteo and Professor Scarcella, the declaration was released.

Summary

''Dignitas Infinita'' is split into four main sections, with the first three recalling fundamental principles related to human dignity, and the fourth outlining modern violations of human dignity around the world, alongside an introduction. The introduction states that human dignity can be split into four categories, specifically " ontological dignity", " moral dignity", "social dignity" and "existential dignity". The first section, titled "A Growing Awareness of the Centrality of Human Dignity", presents the history of the concept of human dignity, from

classical antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

to the

modern age The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500 ...

. The section places central importance on how human dignity is presented in both the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

and the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, and how this was interpreted by the

Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...

and theologians such as

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

. The second section, titled "The Church Proclaims, Promotes, and Guarantees Human Dignity", argues that as humans are created in the image and likeness of God, as

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

became man, and as humans are destined to enter into

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

, all humans have a divinely granted indelible human dignity. The third section, titled "Dignity, the Foundation of Human Rights and Duties", connects the concept of human dignity to the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

, argues against

moral relativism Moral relativism or ethical relativism (often reformulated as relativist ethics or relativist morality) is used to describe several Philosophy, philosophical positions concerned with the differences in Morality, moral judgments across different p ...

, and argues that humans deserve

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

. The fourth section, titled "Some Grave Violations of Human Dignity", presents the list of "some grave violations of human dignity", and is the longest section of the declaration. The declaration states that "all offences against life itself, such as

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

, and willful suicide" are contrary to human dignity, alongside "all violations of the integrity of the human person, such as

mutilation Mutilation or maiming (from the ) is Bodily harm, severe damage to the body that has a subsequent harmful effect on an individual's quality of life. In the modern era, the term has an overwhelmingly negative connotation, referring to alteratio ...

, physical and mental torture, undue psychological pressures" and "all offences against human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment,

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

, the selling of women and children nddegrading working conditions". The document offers an updated articulation of the Church's stance on

surrogacy Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby a woman gets pregnant and gives birth on behalf of another person or couple who will become the child's legal parents after birth. People pursue surrogacy for a variety of reasons such as infertility, danger ...

, claiming that it violates both the dignity of both the child and the surrogate mother. The declaration is notable for its particular focus on the issue of

, with ''Dignitas Infinita'' being the first major Catholic document addressing the subject in detail. The declaration argues gender theory is "extremely dangerous since it cancels differences in its claim to make everyone equal", and thus "all attempts to obscure reference to the ineliminable sexual difference between man and woman" are "to be rejected". While the declaration condemns undue

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

and

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

, it condemns

gender-affirming surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associated ...

as a threat to an individual's dignity. It permits sexual surgery for people with medical

genital A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

abnormalities. The document also omits language from a 1986 doctrinal document that characterized homosexual acts as "intrinsically disordered". Additionally, the section condemns the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

, furthering Pope Francis' argument against the use of capital punishment. The conclusion connects the declaration to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and reminds the reader once again of the importance of human dignity for all persons, regardless of their physical, mental, cultural, social, and religious characteristics.

Sources

The Declaration draws heavily from the teachings of Francis, but also of his predecessors

Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

and

Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...

; this was described as a notable departure from previous DDF documents (such as ''Fiducia Supplicans''), which tended to cite papal teaching almost exclusively from Francis. Some sections of the Declaration also quote older documents from

Paul III Pope Paul III (; ; born Alessandro Farnese; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death, in November 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era follo ...

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the A ...

Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

and a speech from

Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

. The documents of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

are also quoted quite frequently, as are the writings of the

Apostolic Fathers The Apostolic Fathers, also known as the Ante-Nicene Fathers, were core Christian theologians among the Church Fathers who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD who are believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles or to have be ...

and of the

. However, some pointed out that the Document failed to quote the encyclical ''

Veritatis splendor ''Veritatis splendor'' (Latin: ''The Splendor of the Truth'') is an encyclical by Pope John Paul II. It expresses the position of the Catholicism, Catholic Church regarding fundamentals of the Church's role in moral teaching. The encyclical is o ...

'' of Pope John Paul II, which defended the existence of moral absolutes.

Reactions

Father Raymond J. de Souza wrote on the ''

National Catholic Register The ''National Catholic Register'' is a Catholic newspaper in the United States. It was founded on November 8, 1927, by Matthew J. Smith as the national edition of the '' Denver Catholic Register''. The ''Registers current owner is the Ete ...

'' that the declaration "will open new avenues for discussion, apologetics and evangelization". Cardinal

Wilton Daniel Gregory Wilton Daniel Gregory Jr. (born December 7, 1947) is an Catholic Church in the United States, American Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, archbishop of Washington from 2019 to 2025. Pope Francis made him a ...

Archbishop of Washington The Archdiocese of Washington () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church for the District of Columbia and several Maryland counties in the United States. The Archdiocese of Washington is home to the Ca ...

, praised the document as "balanced and challenging", while

Archbishop of Santiago de Chile The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile () is one of the five Latin metropolitan sees of the Catholic Church in Chile. Ecclesiastical province Its Suffragan sees are: * Roman Catholic Diocese of Linares * Roman Catholic Diocese of Mel ...

Fernando Chomalí Garib Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib (born 10 March 1957) is a Chilean Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Santiago de Chile since 2023. He was previously Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago de Chile from 2006 to 2011 and Archbishop of Concepci ...

said it possessed "an extraordinary intellectual and spiritual depth". Chiego Noguchi, a spokesperson for the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic C ...

(USCCB) expressed the Conference's gratitude towards Pope Francis for the Document, stating that it "emphasizes the long tradition of the church on the importance of always recognizing, respecting, and protecting the dignity of the human person in all circumstances.” Father

James J. Martin James, Jim, or Jimmy Martin may refer to: Academics * James Cullen Martin (1928–1999), American chemist * James E. Martin (1932–2017), president of the University of Arkansas and Auburn University * James Kirby Martin (1943–2024), American ...

, praised the document for condemning discrimination against homosexuals, but also said that the passages on gender theory and sex change were “not surprising” and "in line with previous Vatican statements" on the issue. He also expressed his hope that the condemnation of gender theory and sex reassignment were not used to justify

transphobia Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to socia ...

. Nicolete Burbach, "lead expert in social and environmental justice at the London Jesuit Centre" of the

Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, also known as Farm Street Church, is a Catholic parish church run by the Society of Jesus in Mayfair, Central London, England. Its main entrance is in Farm Street, though it can also be acc ...

, "said the document showed the Vatican continues to fail to engage with queer and feminist approaches to the body “which it simply dismisses as supposedly subjecting both the body and human dignity itself to human whims.”". Francis DeBarnardo, the director of

New Ways Ministry New Ways Ministry is a ministry of advocacy and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Catholics. The national organization is primarily based in the state of Maryland. It was one of the earliest groups attempting to broaden the wa ...

, lamented the document's "supporting and propagating ideas that lead to real physical harm to transgender, nonbinary, and other LGBT people, while Jamie Manson of

Catholics for Choice Catholics for Choice (CFC) is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. that advocates for the legalization of abortion, in dissent with the teachings of the Catholic Church. CFC is not affiliated with the Catholic Church. Formed in ...

also said that she does not "buy that women who choose abortion and Catholics who support abortion rights are 'evil' as this document suggests".U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops – ''NCCB/USCC President Issues Statement on Catholics for a Free Choice''
, May 10, 2000. Sister

Jeannine Gramick Jeannine Gramick, SL ( ; born 1942) is an American Catholic religious sister and advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights. She is also a co-founder of New Ways Ministry. In 2021, Pope Francis addressed two letters to New Way ...

, a leading member of New Ways Ministry wrote a letter to Pope Francis, criticizing language used in the Declaration in relation to LGBT people; the Pope replied that "transgender people must be accepted and integrated into society", but reinstated the condemnation of gender ideology and sex reassignment in the Declaration. She added that "gender ideology" means "something other than homosexual or transsexual people. Gender ideology makes everyone equal without respect for personal history. I understand the concern about that paragraph in ''Dignitas Infinita'', but it refers not to transgender people but to gender ideology, which nullifies differences."

References

{{Portal bar, Catholic Church, Christianity, LGBTQ 2024 documents 2024 in Christianity 2024 in LGBTQ history 2024 in Vatican City April 2024 in Europe Documents of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith LGBTQ and Catholicism Catholicism-related controversies 2024 controversies Pope Francis

Background

Contents

Summary

Sources

Reactions

See also

References