Since God created the human person in his image, and God himself became man for the human person’s salvation, the Church considers it as her mission to champion the cause of human rights. As the Pastoral Constitution “On the Church in the modern world”, Gaudium et Spes attests, the Church regards human rights as an outstanding chance that our contemporary age provides in order that people of good will recognise that human dignity and its global promotion stems from God’s presence in every creature. In this respect, speaking to the 34th General Assembly of the United Nations, on 2 October 1979, Pope John Paul II described the Universal Declaration of Human rights as “a true milestone on the path of humanity’s moral progress”.

The existential basis of human rights is solely to be detected in man and God. In his encyclical, which tackles the establishment of universal peace in truth, justice, charity and liberty, Pacem in Terris, Blessed Pope John XXIII depicted these rights as universal, inviolable and inalienable. These rights are universal inasmuch as they are to be found in every human person, irrespective of time, place or subject. They are inviolable because “they are inherent in the human person and in human dignity” (see Pope John Paul II’s Message for the 1999 World Day of Peace, 3).

Finally, human rights are inalienable due to the fact that “no one can legitimately deprive another person, whoever they may be, of these rights, since this would do violence to their nature” (see Pope John Paul II’s Message for the 1999 World Day of Peace, 3). These three essential qualities of human rights urge the international community as well as each individual state to commit themselves to promoting and safeguarding them at all times and in all places.

But what are these rights precisely? In his Encyclical letter which he wrote to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul II composes a list of these rights. Among the rights he mentions one finds, “the right to life, an integral part of which is the right of the child to develop in the mother’s womb from the moment of conception; the right to live in a united family and in a moral environment conducive to the growth of the child’s personality; the right to develop one’s intelligence and freedom in seeking and knowing the truth; the right to share in the work which makes wise use of the earth’s material resources, and to derive from that work the means to support oneself and one’s dependents; and the right to freely establish a family, to have and to rear children through the responsible exercise of one’s sexuality. In a certain sense, the source and synthesis of these rights is religious freedom, understood as the right to live in the truth of one’s faith and in conformity with one’s transcendent dignity as a person” (Centesimus Annus, 47).

From this interesting yet widely extended panorama of rights, the right to life from conception to its natural conclusion remains the foundation of the ensuing rights. From its very nature, this right fundamentally excludes and simultaneously presents as morally evil procured abortion and euthanasia.

On the other hand, the right to life also means the right to religious freedom. The Second Vatican Council’s Declaration On Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae, explicitly states that “all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits” (Dignitatis Humanae, 2). In Pope John Paul II’s view, when religious freedom is honoured, it means that “man’s authentic progress in any regime, in any society, system or milieu” is tangibly taking place (Redemptor Hominis, 17).

Obviously, the human person cannot have rights without their incumbent duties. Blessed Pope John XXIII wrote that “man’s awareness of his rights must inevitably lead him to the recognition of his duties. The possession of rights involves the duty of implementing those rights, for they are the expression of a man’s personal dignity. And the possession of rights also involves their recognition and respect by other people” (Pacem in Terris, 44).

In its social teaching, the Church envisages that both peoples and nations have rights. The basic principle which guides her in her reflection is that what is essentially true for the individual it also true for peoples. States should be respected, precisely because their peoples have every right for self-determination and free cooperation for the achievement of the higher common good of humanity. In their turn, nations are entitled to those rights that preserve their community life.

Any nation in the world has the right to exist, to have its language and culture, and to fashion itself in accordance with the traditions that mould its identity. While trying to build its future on education, especially by offering equal opportunities to the younger population, every state is to guarantee full rights for minorities. Hence, for the Church, a just international order is one where a balance is struck between particularity and universality, between the rights and duties of individual nations and those of the international community at large.

On the example of her founder Jesus Christ, the Church feels that it is her mission “to bring good tidings to the afflicted, … to bind up the brokenhearted , to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, …and to comfort all who mourn” (Isa 61, 1-2). Fuelled as she is by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus, the Church continues to promote total respect for justice and human rights.

United with Christ, her Lord and Saviour, the Church never ceases to draw the attention of governments and non-governmental organisations around the world to work for a new international order built on solidarity, peace and the absolute observance of the rule of law. In this way, by defending human rights, the Church affirms her unfailing commitment to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ by safeguarding the human person’s dignity. By advancing the cause of human rights in the light of Jesus Christ, the Church helps humanity to discover and appreciate itself. Above all, the Church can effectively fulfill her vocation as being a minister of communion and reconciliation, by endorsing in her approach that human, warming and respectful attitude which broken humanity is desperately craving for.