Vatican to Publish a Document on Human Dignity to Answer Difficult Moral Questions on Gender, Surrogacy and More

 

The "Dignitas Infinita" declaration will be published on April 8th and presented on the same day in the Vatican Press Office by Cardinal Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery, by the secretary Monsignor Armando Matteo and by Professor Paola Scarcella

"Infinite Dignity". This is the title of the declaration on the topic of human dignity drawn up by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith which will be published on Monday. The document will be presented on the same day, at noon, in a conference at the Press Room of the Holy See, by Cardinal Prefect Víctor Manuel Fernández, by Monsignor Armando Matteo, secretary for the Doctrinal Section of the Dicastery, by Professor Paola Scarcella, professor at the Tor Vergata University and the Lumsa University of Rome, responsible for the Catechesis of people with disabilities of the Community of Sant'Egidio.

It was the Pope himself, in the audience last January 26th with officials and members of the Doctrine of the Faith, who announced that the Dicastery was working on a document on the theme of dignity, understood as the "primacy of the human person and the defense of his dignity beyond all circumstances." Francis' hope was that the text "can help us, as a Church, to always be close to all those who, without proclamations, in concrete everyday life, fight and pay personally to defend the rights of those who do not count". And also to ensure that, "when faced with different current ways of eliminating or ignoring others, we are able to react with a new dream of fraternity and social friendship that is not limited to words".

Since November 2023, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith led by Cardinal Fernández has released several documents in response to questions from bishops or cardinals on various topics: the possibility for transsexual people to receive Baptism, as well as the children of homosexual couples even if born from a rented womb; the ban on Catholics joining Freemasonry; the placement of the ashes of the deceased; encouraging single mothers to access the Sacraments. On 18 December the same Dicastery published the doctrinal document Fiducia Supplicans, which opens up the possibility of blessing "irregular" couples but outside of any ritualization and imitation of a wedding.

Source: Vatican News Italian Ed.