By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
VATICAN CITY, MAY 5, 2009 (LifeSIteNews.com) – Pope Benedict XVI addressed members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences yesterday at their plenary session which is focused on the theme of Catholic social teaching and human rights, and called for the promotion of universal human rights based on both faith and reason, affirming the “right to life and the right to freedom of conscience and religion as being at the center of those rights that spring from human nature itself.”
The Holy Father noted that though these human rights are not strictly “truths of faith, even though they are discoverable – and indeed come to full light – in the message of Christ who “reveals man to man himself,” they do “receive further confirmation from faith.”
Giving an historical perspective to human rights as “the reference point of a shared universal ethos – at least at the level of aspiration – for most of humankind,” the Pope spoke of the “vast suffering caused by two terrible world wars and the unspeakable crimes perpetrated by totalitarian ideologies,” as a consequence of which “the international community acquired a new system of international law based on human rights.”
The Pontiff emphasized the Catholic Church’s position that “fundamental rights, above and beyond the different ways in which they are formulated and the different degrees of importance they may have in various cultural contexts, are to be upheld and accorded universal recognition because they are inherent in the very nature of man, who is created in the image and likeness of God.”
“Human rights, therefore, are ultimately rooted in a participation of God, who has created each human person with intelligence and freedom,” Pope Benedict explained. “If this solid ethical and political basis is ignored, human rights remain fragile since they are deprived of their sound foundation.”
Addressing the critical social problems created by “a flagrant contrast between the equal attribution of rights and the unequal access to the means of attaining those rights,” the Pope called on “all international leaders to collaborate in showing a readiness to work in good faith, respecting the natural law and promoting solidarity and subsidiarity with the weakest regions and peoples of the planet as the most effective strategy for eliminating social inequalities between countries and societies and for increasing global security.”
Link to full text of the Pope’s speech to Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences: https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2009/may/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20090504_social-sciences_en.html