DECLARATION “DIGNITAS INFINITA” ON HUMAN DIGNITY
for the Doctrine of the Faith
“Dignitas Infinita regarding human dignity”
04.08.2024
On the 8th of April, 2024, the Vatican presented to Christendom and to the world their five year study on Human Dignity. In this document, written in seven languages (Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish), the introduction explains:
“On 2 February 2024, a new and significantly modified version of this text was sent to the Members of the Dicastery ahead of the Ordinary Session (Feria IV) on 28 February 2024. The letter accompanying the draft included the following clarification: “This additional drafting was necessary to meet a specific request of the Holy Father: namely, he explicitly urged that more attention be given to the grave violations of human dignity in our time, particularly in light of the Encyclical Fratelli Tutti. With this, the Doctrinal Office took steps to reduce the initial part […] and to develop in greater detail what the Holy Father indicated.” The text of the current Declaration was finally approved during the above-mentioned Feria IV of 28 February 2024. Then, in the Audience granted to me and to Monsignor Armando Matteo, Secretary of the Doctrinal Section, on 25 March 2024, the Holy Father approved this Declaration and ordered its publication.
The five-year course of the text’s preparation helps us to understand that the document before us reflects the gravity and centrality of the theme of dignity in Christian thought.