19 jurisdiction or international jurisdiction of a country or territory; are not imposed or curtailed by the independence or nonindependence of the country to which a person belongs.8 National recognition, with the provisions of law, recognized, respected, and protected by all people, organizations, and society, confirmed by an international consensus measure and further strengthened by international courts9 is crucial. The basic idea of such rights exists in all cultures and societies in some form. Even if national laws do not recognize or protect these rights, the people of that country still have inviolable human rights that cannot be denied by anyone. Moreover, the human interests which human rights seek to protect are values of a universal nature concerning human development. 10 Catholic Social Teachings (CST) and Human Rights In CST, human rights occupy a very important place, since the time of Pope John XXIII. He was the first pope to officially accept the idea of human rights based on human dignity. Pope John XXIII addressed human rights thematically in his encyclical Pacem in Terris, 1963,11where they were deemed officially by the Church as being “universal, inviolable, and inalienable”. The Encyclical of Pope John XXIII repeats the most important points of the Universal Declaration of 1948, but unlike the Declaration, John XXIII’s text links rights with duties. Although it is a religious document, human rights are based primarily on natural law. Natural dignity Natural dignity is what human beings possess within themselves. Again, like rights, dignity is not given by society or any human authority. It is natural dignity human beings have, although part of the material world, which allows for human transcendence through intelligence and freedom. Therefore, humans by virtue of their reason should have the capacity to recognize natural dignity. However, some ignore others’ dignity for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, all humans, according to Catholic tradition, are created in the image and likeness of God so faith gives humans a firmer foundation to uphold human dignity 12 for “God intends us to be immune from all slavery, manipulation, or exploitation”13. The notion of equality Additionally, one of the important aspects of human dignity guided by the Catholic tradition is the notion of equality.14 According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All are equal before the 13 Massaro, Living Justice: Catholic Social Teaching in Action, 81. 10 Nigel Biggar, What’s Wrong with Rights?, 218. 14 Massaro, Living Justice: Catholic Social Teaching in Action, 81. 12 Massaro, Living Justice: Catholic Social Teaching in Action, 81. 11 Thomas Massaro, Living Justice: Catholic Social Teaching in Action, Third Classroom edition, (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), 83. 9 Nigel Biggar, What’s Wrong with Rights?, 190. 8 United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 2.
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