Section 3: Respecting Human Life and Dignity
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The Catholic social teaching about respecting
life is rooted in the Fifth Commandment, “You
shall not kill.”
We are in a world where the “culture of life”
and the “culture of death” have become
combatting forces within our own country.
When countries lean toward the culture of
death, the first victims are the unborn, the
infirm, and the elderly.
We are called to embrace a culture of life.
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In 1995, Pope John Paul II wrote the
encyclical, The Gospel of Life, which
addressed social movements toward abortion
and euthanasia, that were being legalized at
the time around the world.
Abortion is the deliberate termination of a
pregnancy by killing the unborn child.
Euthanasia is a direct action, or deliberate
lack of action, that causes the death of a
person who is handicapped, sick, or dying.
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Death takes on many forms around the world,
from poverty, homelessness, disease, and
violence to deliberate acts of killing by way of
abortion and euthanasia (as if there were not
enough ways to die in our world as it is).
The Pope called people to form a Culture of
Life, or a society that holds all life sacred,
from conception to natural death.
A culture of life protects human life and
dignity in all its stages, in both health and
illness.
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A Culture of Death, on the other hand, is a
society that does not hold life to be sacred in
all it stages, leading to structures of sin that
attack human life when it is most vulnerable.
Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical, identified
two causes of the culture of death:
◦ Many modern people embrace a distorted
understanding of human freedom
◦ Materialism
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Many people believe we have the right to
pursue our own personal goals, no matter
what it takes, even if it means removing
whatever obstacles lie ahead, even if it is
another person’s life.
This is a FALSE conception.
Freedom is not an absolute right; it is a gift,
and as such it comes with the responsibilities
to choose right over wrong, love over hate,
solidarity over selfishness, and life over
death.
“Freedom isn’t free.”
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People who properly exercise their freedom
would never cause harm to another person in
pursuit of their own desires.
The second cause of a culture of death is
materialism, which comes from when God is not
placed at the center of our lives, but rather
objects become the primary goal of our life.
When we focus on material things, we become
selfish, not wanting to sacrifice or suffer a little,
even if it means making someone else’s life a
little better.
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What is particularly disturbing about the culture
of death is the erosion of personal conscience, or
the inner voice that guides us by human reason
and Divine Law to choose what is morally right or
what is morally wrong.
The fact that people can go and end a new life, or
a life that is vulnerable, without a care in the
world is scary and sad; we are horrified when we
see national tragedies like what happened in
Newton, CT, yet are not horrified at the amount
of life lost daily to abortion and euthanasia.
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In 1973, Roe v. Wade came before the
Supreme Court, in which it was ruled that
states could not limit a woman’s right to have
an abortion in the first three months of
pregnancy.
Before this decision, a majority of U.S.
citizens felt abortion was wrong; leadership
had an erosion of conscience about the
human dignity of a embryo and fetus, which
trickled down to the U.S. citizens.
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Once abortion became legal, a structure of
sin was formed in which people all over
debated if a fetus actually had human rights,
or if it was even a human being.
On top of that, as an erosion of conscience
occurred, other people began to ask if it was
okay to end the lives of unwanted or
inconvenient people since it was now legal to
end the life of an unborn child.
The erosion of conscience is an important
contributor to the culture of death.
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We are called to have a
well formed conscience,
formulated through
human reason and Divine
Revelation, that has
principal, is truthful, and
reflects the Divine Law of
God.
If we do have a well
formed conscience, then
we would have a difficult
time hearing about
abortion and euthanasia
and the amount of life
lost due to it.
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Pope John Paul II says in his encyclical that
when a society moves toward a culture of
death, the first victims will be the weak and
defenseless.
Since 1973 with the Roe v. Wade ruling to
2010, it is estimated that there have been 52
million abortions in the United States.
Building structures of social justice that
defend all life, especially the unborn, is
important since all people are made in God’s
image and as such, are sacred in the eyes of
God.
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During the first eight to ten weeks in the
womb, a child is called a fetus.
Abortion can take on many different forms,
with the most common form of abortion
being suctioning or scraping the developing
child out of the womb.
Other forms of abortion are lethal injections
into the womb that kill the child, drugs that
are taken days after conception, and
contraception which prevents pregnancy or
cause death in early pregnancy to the child.
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Direct abortion is any intentionally means to
end a pregnancy and the life of a child, which
goes against God’s plan for creation.
The woman having the abortion and those
who perform it are guilty of a serious evil and
are subject to excommunication, which is the
cutting off of a person from receiving any
Sacraments.
An indirect abortion is when a mother is ill,
needs a procedure done that is not an
abortion, yet inadvertently ends the life of the
child.
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The Principle of Doubt Effect was coined by
Thomas Aquinas and describes what happens
when a legitimate action ends up causing
something that morally should be avoided.
To decide if the result (which morally should
be avoided) is morally tolerable from the
legitimate action, the following criteria apply:
◦ The original act is either good or morally neutral
◦ Person committing the act intends for good effects
◦ The good effect outweighs the bad effect and all
possible harm is kept at a minimum, or at least
tried
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To understand these concepts, here is an
example situation:
◦ A mother is seriously ill. If a procedure is not done,
she will probably die, which will also end the child’s
life. The procedure is done to protect the mother’s
life and the child’s life. During the procedure, an
incident unforeseen occurs, causing the child to
die.
 In this situation, the indirect abortion is morally
tolerable because the procedure was not intended to
end the child’s life to save the mother’s life; it was an
unwanted effect that occurred during the procedure.
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There are numerous arguments for abortion,
all of which do not hold any weight.
For example, some people say an embryo or
fetus is not a human being when in reality
modern biology, specifically genetics, have
said an embryo or fetus is a human being.
There are many other facts that support the
idea that from the moment of conception, a
human being is formed.
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From the moment sperm and egg meet, the cell
they form has unique DNA, different from that of
all human beings that ever existed.
When this cell is left to its own accord, this cell
will always develop into an adult human being.
The embryo has its own body; the mother’s body
does provide nourishment and oxygen, but the
embryo has its own, individual body.
At 21 days after conception, the embryo’s heart
beats; 9 weeks, it has fingerprints; 12 weeks,
they sleep, exercise, and move; 18 weeks, they
can feel pain.
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All these facts and more lead to one logical
conclusion: a unique human life begins at the
moment of conception.
Some people say that women have a choice to do
as they please with their body, hence why they
should have a right to abortion; however, as
mentioned before, the embryo’s body is distinct
from the mother’s and has rights too.
Even when fathers abandon the mother, abortion
is not the answer; we, as a society, must make
fathers more accountable for their actions.
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We, as a society, must bring an end to all laws
that allow abortion and show women that
abortion does not need to be the answer;
adoption and support from organizations exist
that make abortion not necessary, even in the
most difficult situations.
The Church is the voice for the voiceless when it
comes to abortion, speaking out against abortion
and reaching out to women who have had
abortions and realize what wrong they have done
to bring them back to the Church through
Penance.
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There are other moral issues that revolve
around the beginning of life outside of
abortion.
Artificial Means of Contraception is the ability
to create new human life artificially, using
such means as in vitro fertilization (fertilizing
an ovum in a laboratory and planting it in a
woman’s womb) , artificial insemination
(artificially implanting semen in a woman’s
womb), or surrogate parenting (placing a
woman’s fertilized egg in another woman’s
womb to grow).
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While these techniques mean well, they all
share serious moral flaws.
The dignity of sexuality requires children be
created naturally, making the three means of
artificial conception listed before immoral.
The Church does support scientific research
that will help couples who are infertile or
have problems conceiving through medical
treatment that will increase the chances of
natural conception.
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Prenatal testing is another issue; this is when
a test is done that tests for diseases or
defects in the embryo.
Prenatal testing is morally acceptable if it
does not harm the embryo or fetus and if
used to help the child’s state of health.
If used to decide whether or not to abort a
child because of disease or defect, prenatal
testing is morally wrong.
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Genetic Engineering, also known as
producing a “designer baby,” is the
manipulation of an ovum’s or embryo’s
genetic coding.
Changing the eye color, gender, hair color,
etc. through genetic engineering is morally
wrong since human beings are acting as God,
who alone has the ability to create the
uniqueness of each of His creations.
Genetic engineering used to prevent diseases,
called gene treatment, is morally acceptable.
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Stem Cell Research has been an extreme
controversial political issue.
Stem Cells are unique cells that have the
potential to reproduce themselves as human
tissue and organs; however, one of the main
sources of stem cells is fetal tissue, causing
scientists to want to use aborted embryos and
fetus for their work.
The Church approves of stem cell research that
uses adult or umbilical cord stem cells, but
condemns stem cell research that uses aborted
embryos and fetuses.
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The good intention of stem cell research to
cure diseases does not justify the evil of
abortion.
Just because human beings have the
technology to accomplish certain actions
does not mean those actions are morally just.
We must defend, care for, and work to heal
the unborn just as we would for any born,
living, human being we know or see around
us now.
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Pope John Paul II also spoke about how in
developed countries, people seem to more
and more seek control of their own lives in
everyway, even controlling their own death.
Euthanasia and suicide are just a few signs of
the culture of death active in society when it
comes to dealing with the sick, vulnerable,
and elderly.
We should remember death in this life is not
the end, but the beginning of eternal life,
which is what we truly should be worried
about achieving.
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Euthanasia is most commonly known as “mercy
killing,” yet in the end, the taking of any life for
any reason is murder and a sin.
Nothing justifies euthanasia, whether it is ending
the life of a sick person or of an elderly, lonely
person.
However, this does not mean that the Church
demands life be prolonged by extraordinary
means; a when person is near natural death, a
person can reject extraordinary means such as
pacemakers, breathing machines, and
medications that prolong life.
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Painkillers are also okay to use, even if they
bring about a dying person’s end faster, since
the painkillers is meant to alleviate suffering,
not cause death.
Rejecting euthanasia is not a lack of
compassion for sick and dying people; rather,
it is rejecting the false solution euthanasia
offers in place of the morally right response
to pain and suffering: to place complete trust
in God right up until our natural end on Earth.
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The Catholic Church and Christians have
done great things for sick and dying people,
caring for them in hospitals and hospice
homes, listening to their needs, and
preparing them for the end of this life and
the beginning of Eternal Life.
Another moral issue concerning people’s
control over death is Suicide, or the
deliberate taking of one’s own life.
It is God’s will that preserve our own life.
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The reason why people do not have the right
to decide when to end their own life is
because God alone is the author of all life and
God alone decides when and how we die.
People who commit suicide take God’s power
into their own hands when things in their life
seem too difficult, too stressful, and painful.
Pope John Paul II said “suicide represents a
rejection of God’s absolute sovereignty over
life and death.”
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Suicide not only brings an end to life, but it
also causes great harm to family, friends, and
sometimes shakes a community to its core.
Suicide is always wrong, but the Church does
recognize that some mentally ill or unstable
people take their own life due to their illness’
effects, not because they feel they cannot go
on.
If you know someone thinking about suicide,
tell an adult, even if it means breaking
confidentiality.
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The Church does pray
for those who have
committed suicide,
commending them to
God’s love and mercy,
so even though suicide
is a grave sin against
God, that person may
not be lost forever;
through God’s mercy,
Eternal Life may still be
achieved.
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Pope John Paul II said the death penalty in
modern society should be “very rare, if not
practically non-existent.”
Public authorities should address violations of
the law with punishments that allow individuals
to earn back their freedoms and be rehabilitate;
the death penalty should only be used for
individuals when there is no other way to defend
society against them.
Today however, life sentences are the new norm
to allow individuals to be rehabilitated and still
have their human dignity intact.
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In reality, people who say the death penalty is
found throughout the Old Testament are
correct.
However, God did not change His mind about
the death penalty; we must recall the New
Law Jesus taught to understand why the
death penalty is wrong.
Jesus calls His disciples to turn the other
cheek, love their enemies, and continuously
forgive people.
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The Old Law was not complete; it taught the
Israelites only how to protect their
community from evil and limit the
punishment people could impose on each
other.
Jesus completed the New Law by teaching
that we are to love all people and that
forgiveness is much more important and
satisfying than vengeance.
God did not change His mind; we more fully
understand His ways in the New Law now.
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We are to practice forgiveness and mercy, just as
God gives to each one of us who sin (which is
everyone).
Another reason for the death penalty being in the
Old Testament is that criminal justice was not as
developed as it is today, i.e. criminals could not
be held in jail for life, meaning to protect society
harmful individuals had to be executed.
The test of whether to use the death penalty is
whether society has alternative ways to protect
itself, not how horrible the crime is.
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We are called to build a culture of life,
because even behind jail bars, who knows
what God has planned for the life of a
murder, terrorist, or any other criminal.
We must give all criminals a chance to repent
for their crimes, turn back to God, and reform
their life.
We all mess up at some point in our life,
obviously some people do worse than others,
but we all would like a second chance in the
end; God will give that chance to us if we
seek it and are truly sorry for what we did.
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The death penalty
should be ended
because God calls us to
forgive others and
punish them justly by
way of preserving their
human dignity.
God is the sole author
of life and decides
when to call us home,
hence why abortion,
euthanasia, suicide,
and the death penalty
are all morally wrong.
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Violent behavior is a violation against the Fifth
Commandment, “You shall not kill.”
Violent behavior usually begins with small
actions, escalating to even greater acts of
violence in retaliation.
Violence is justified in certain situations, such as
when defending ourselves (which is a right and
obligation), but must use the minimum amount
of violence necessary to protect oneself.
Violence and wars are not inevitable; we are
called to build up societal structures that support
nonviolent resolutions to conflicts.
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Violence is any human action that causes
harm to the life or dignity of another person.
Males tend to be the victim of violence more
so than women, equally split between the
Black and White population, and over 2/3 of
murder victims are killed by someone they
know (nearly ¼ by someone in their own
family).
Violence is not just a physical attack, like
murder; it is also any psychological, social,
and spiritual attack on another person.
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Slander is ruining the reputation of another
person by spreading rumors and is a violent act.
Bullying is treating some abusively, either
verbally or physically, or forcing someone to do
something against their will through violence and
threats, is another violent act.
Other violent acts can be:
◦ Prohibiting someone from practicing their religion
◦ Calling a person a derogatory name
◦ Causing people to be poor because of unjust distribution
of Earth’s goods
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Violence is rooted in negative feelings and
attitudes in the heart of the perpetrator, such as
selfishness, insecurity, greed, envy, and anger.
In the first murder, Cain killed Abel out of anger
and envy toward Abel.
The root cause of violence is the negative effects
of that Original Sin has over our attitudes about
ourselves and others.
Also, when structures of sin cause people to
become poor, oppressed, and discriminated
against, violence is used to solve problems.
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The Spiral of Violence is the tendency of
violent acts to escalate as each party in a
conflict responds to injustice or an act of
violence with an even greater act of violence.
Archbishop Dom Helder Camara came up
with the Spiral of Violence to show how
violence and injustice are related; when a
person attacks someone, the victim retaliates
back, making the first attacker the new
victim, leading to a cycle of more harmful
actions.
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The steps of the Spiral of Violence are:
◦ Basic Injustice
 Resolve conflict selfishly in pursuit of one’s own interest at
the expense of someone else
◦ Violent Response
 The injured party uses a violent response to the selfish
action
◦ Violent Counter Response
 The party that started the conflict is now injured and seeks
to get revenge with even greater violence
◦ Escalating Violence
 Used to outdo and defeat each other once and for all
◦ Violence ends Temporarily, Followed by More Injustice
 When one side overcomes the other, the cycle begins again
as fear and force are imposed on the “losing” party, a form
of injustice
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The two approaches to confronting violence
according to Catholic social teaching are:
◦ Defend oneself against an attacker using the
minimal amount of force or violence needed to
protect oneself
◦ Nonviolence conflict resolution and nonviolent
resistance to evil
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The Spiral of Violence teaches us that the
best way to confront violence is to address
the issue that lead to violence as early as
possible.
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Jesus taught that as
His disciples, we are
not to answer violence
with violence, but
rather to love our
enemies and to
conquer evil with good,
because two wrongs
never end up making
something right.
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Starting a war is an immoral act.
War is never an appropriate way to solve conflicts
between people or countries, and as Pope Pius XII
said, “Nothing is lost by peace; everything is lost
by war.”
Between forty and seventy million people died in
World War II alone, showing why war should
never be the goal of how to solve conflicts.
Often civilians are the victims of war more so
than soldiers, especially in today’s day and age
where nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons
exist.
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Moral laws require all peoples and nations to
do everything they can to resist war.
When we are faced with war, we must either
defend ourselves through force or through
nonviolent resistance.
Divine Law does not forbid the use of
legitimate self defense against an unjust
aggressor.
Our love for others, including our enemies, is
balanced by our love for ourselves.
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The intrinsic value of life and the duty to love
oneself no less than others are the basis of a
true right to self defense.
If, for example, your house is being robbed,
you do not need to kill the burglar if he/she
to stop them from taking your things;
harming or killing someone in self defense
should be a last resort.
Only is “kill or be killed” situations is killing
permissible in self defense.
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Legitimate Defense is the teaching that limited
violence is morally acceptable in defending
yourself or your nation from an attack.
Those who hold authority, such as governments
and militaries, have a duty to protect innocent
people against an unjust aggressor to protect the
common good by rendering the aggressor unable
to cause harm.
Those who serve in the military are affirmed by
the Church as the agents of security and freedom
of people when they act properly.
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War must be a last resort whenever there is
conflict between nations.
A Just War is a war that is declared by lawful
authorities due to a just cause and with the
right intentions (such as self defense), and
weapons must be used in a way that protects
the lives of innocent people.
To helps states determine if a war is just, the
Church has complied criteria that must be
met for war to be morally permissible.
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The following are criteria for a just war:
◦ Just Cause
 The state must be using war to prevent or correct evil
◦ Comparative Justice
 The good achieved by war must outweigh the loss of life and
disruption to society
◦ Legitimate Authority
 Only public authorities may wage war
◦ Probability of Success
 War must not be used in a futile case, or when extreme
measures, such as nuclear war, are the only way to succeed
◦ Proportionality
 The overall destruction must be outweigh by goods achieved
◦ Last Resort
 War is only used after all peaceful alternatives are exhausted
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If any of those conditions are not met, a war
is considered unjust.
Catholic social teaching recognizes the
legitimate authorities can call citizens into
military service in self defense.
Some citizens feel serving in a just war fulfills
a moral duty; others people take Jesus’ call to
love your enemies as meaning they cannot
fight in any war, even if it is just.
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The Church asks governments to help people
who feel they cannot serve in a just war because
of Christ’s teachings find alternative ways to
serve their nation.
Conscientious Objection is the refusal to join the
military or take part in a war based on religious
or moral grounds.
If a person serves in the military and feels a war
isn't just, they should legally have the right to
refuse to fight based on conscientious objection
(though that is not a right in the U.S. today).
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After World War II, a nuclear arms race began
between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The policy known as Mutually Assured
Destruction (MAD) was the basis for the
stockpiling of weapons, which believes that
having nuclear weapons deters other countries
from using them on your country; if they do,
their destruction is assured since the attacked
country will send nuclear missiles at the attacker.
Such an event could lead to a nuclear winter
around the world.
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Nuclear missiles have only been used two
times (Hiroshima and Nagasaki), yet the
money spent on the missiles to make is a
social injustice since that money could be
used to address the needs of society, such as
hunger and homelessness.
Due to public outcry, the United States,
Russia, and other countries have signed arms
reduction agreements; Russia and the United
States have gone from having 12,000 nuclear
missiles each in the 1970’s to around 2,200
each today.
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Such agreements show that structures of sin,
such as stockpiling weapons of mass
destruction, can be converted and changed
through peaceful protest and means.
One structure of sin that continues to support
modern warfare is called an Arms Race, or an
escalating competition to accumulate ever
great numbers of weapons and to develop
ever more effective and destructive weapons
for armed conflict.
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Those who support arms races say it ensures
peace by making sure nations have the best
weapons and forces to defend themselves.
However, this notion of ensuring peace with
weapons is challenged since arms races lead
to the creation of weapons of mass
destruction, such as nuclear, chemical, and
biological weapons.
Ancient biological weapons were used to
spread the plague, disease, and other deadly
microbes to sicken and kill enemies.
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The first modern weapons of mass
destruction were used in World War I in the
form of chemical weapons, such as mustard
and nerve gas.
The newest weapons of mass destruction are
nuclear weapons, which killed around 110
million people total INSTANTLY during World
War II.
Weapons of mass destruction do not meet the
criteria for use in a just war and this are
morally wrong, but the arms race promotes
the creation of such weapons still.
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Another reason why the arms race is a major
moral problem is because it diverts close to a
trillion dollars annually around the world to
the military instead of some of that money
helping the poor and needed.
The arms race not only has potential to kill
millions of people, most citizens, in moments
by their use, but also can lead to the death of
millions of other poor and needy people who
are not being cared for because money is
being allocated to weapons.
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Another structure of sin connected with the
arms race is the Arms Trade, or the sale of
arms and weapons within and between
countries.
The major driving force behind the arms
trade is profit, since sellers will send weapons
to the highest bidder and even to both sides
of a conflict without a care in the world.
States have a moral responsibility to regulate
the arms trade to ensure peace in society.
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The Church, in Christ, is a “sacrament” or sign
and instrument of peace in the world and for the
world.
As Christians, we are called to be peacemakers;
otherwise, if we do not, we are guilt of the sin of
Scandal, or an attitude, action, or lack of action,
that leads another person to sin.
War, even a just war, is never the permanent
solution to conflict; the lasting solution is
building peaceful and just societies rooted in
forgiveness, justice, and love.
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In waging peace, we are called to keep three
principles in mind:
◦ The saving work of Jesus Christ ushers in God’s
Kingdom of peace.
 Through Christ’s death, we are not bound to repeat the
spiral of violence forever.
◦ Peace is a divine gift, a fruit of the Holy Spirit, given to
those who place their faith in Jesus Christ.
 Participating in Christ’s Church means finding peace in a
violent world; “I leave you peace, My peace I give to you. Not
as the world gives do I give it to you..”
◦ Peace is more than just the absence of violence.
 The Hebrew word “Shalom” is a greeting used to not only
wish people peace, but also a just, loving relationship with
God; peace is built on such loving relationships with others.
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Since we are called to be peacemakers, we should
not wait until violence and war break out to make
peace; we should be building peaceful societies
at all times.
There are many different ways we can build
peace in our world today.
Correcting injustices allows for peace to be built
up since injustice usually leads to violence, i.e.
keeping the poor and homeless as they are
without helping them so the rich can lead luxury
lifestyles; fixing injustices prevents violence.
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Working for solidarity is an essential
ingredient for peace; if we cross boundaries,
cultures, and man made barriers between
people, we become one family and friends,
creating more peace than violence.
Supporting economic development helps
poorer countries avoid war since sometimes
wars occur over resources in poor countries
for water and food; helping poor countries
grow economically helps prevent war.
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Promoting forgiveness and reconciliation is
essential to peace since forgetting past
transgressions does not create peace; Japan was
once our enemy in World War II but today is one
of our closest allies; seeking forgiveness is
essential to peace.
Apartheid, in South Africa, was the segregation
and political and economic discrimination against
non-whites.
People who took part in the apartheid and acted
unjustly were allowed to ask for forgiveness in an
open forum to help promote peace.
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Making time for prayer
is one of the most
powerful peacemaker
practices.
If we align our prayers
and wants with God’s
will, we will find the
answer to our society’s
problem is not fighting
back with violence, but
searching for a lasting
peace between all
people.
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We are called to respond to violence and
hatred with love.
A way to end the spiral of violence is not just
by avoiding answering violence with violence,
but also transforming our relationship with
our enemies from hatred into love.
When we love our enemies, even if they do
not love us back, we are opening them up to
the love of God and His graces.
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In America, loving one’s enemies is
countercultural since some people think violence
solves violence and to love is to show weakness;
this, however, is not true.
To love one’s enemies means to call upon the
strength of God, a strength that no violence can
overcome when people place their trust in God
and not in themselves.
Christian martyrs died for their faith in God and
love of their enemies, even their killers; in many
instances, people were converted when they saw
the love the martyrs practiced.
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Love of our enemies requires more strength
than the strength needed to harm our
enemies.
Some Christians resist violence altogether,
even violence used in self defense, accepting
death if that’s what resisting violence means.
Usually, such Christians will not fight in war,
even a just war, due to the idea of Nonviolent
Resistance, which means to confront injustice
and violence with love, using only nonviolent
strategies in working for justice and peace.
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Whether a person chooses to use legitimate
defense or complete commitment to nonviolence,
both seek to serve the common good and
establish peace in our world.
Being committed to nonviolence does not mean
accepting violence in our world, but it is taking a
different approach to establishing peace through
total love.
Not all people are called to be committed to
nonviolence; however, those who are become
examples that violence does not solve violence,
but rather love is the answer to ending violence.
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Every human being has the same sacred
dignity, regardless of age, sex, race, culture,
beliefs, appearance, ability, etc.
We reflect God’s image through our
maleness/femaleness; God’s likeness through
our ethnicities.
However, human beings have become
suspicious of cultures and people different
from themselves, leading to racism,
segregation, war, and sexism (structures of
sin).
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There is no fundamental difference between
human beings besides our sexuality, that of
male and female.
Male and females are equal in dignity, yet
unique physically, emotional, and spiritually,
making men and women complementary
creatures to one another.
When used immorally, however, sexuality has
great power to harm people, both the people
who do the exploiting, the exploited, and
their respective friends and families.
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God created the two sexes to be the
foundation for the human community, to be
in relationship with one another and
reproduce.
However, relationships are not all about
reproducing; it is also about giving and
receiving love, just as the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit give love and are in communion
with one another.
Sexuality finds its most complete fulfillment
in marriage or in the practice of celibacy for
priests.
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Chastity, or the virtue by which a person is
successful in integrating their sexuality into their
entire person successfully, helps us live out our
sexuality with integrity.
A chaste person’s actions and words reflect
God’s purpose for sexuality, i.e. a person won’t
dress provocative to tempt other people sexually
since sex is for a man and woman.
Other sins against chastity are masturbation,
fornication, lust, pornography, and homosexual
activity.
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Masturbation is the self manipulation of one’s
sexual organs for the purpose of pleasure
outside of sex and marriage.
Fornication is the act of sex between a man
and a woman who are not married.
Lust is the intense and uncontrolled desire for
sexual pleasure.
Pornography is a written description or visual
portrayal of a person or action viewed to
stimulate sexual feelings.
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Our sexuality is both a reflection of the Divine
Trinity’s communion since men and women
are to be in union together as the Trinity is,
as well as a share in God’s life giving power.
Both these meanings of sex are fully realized
in marriage, when a man and woman make a
lifetime commitment to one another, in good
times and bad, with the purpose to love one
another and bring new life into the world.
Adultery, divorce, and polygamy go against
the dignity of marriage.
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Adultery is marital infidelity, or when two
people (at least one is married) have sex with
each other, yet are not married to one
another.
Polygamy is having more than one spouse.
When sexuality is properly respected between
a married man and woman, it is then that
society can be fully appreciated and achieve
its purpose (for priests and nuns, in celibacy,
sexuality is also fully appreciated, just in a
different way than married people).
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However, structures of sin exist that exploit
sexuality, including:
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Prostitution
Pornography industry
Sexual slavery
Sex as a marketing tool
Prostitution is the illegal act of providing sexual
services in return for money or other goods.
Some people are forced into prostitution, others
do it willingly, yet prostitutes are demeaned,
abused, manipulated, exposed to disease, and
are deprived of their human dignity.
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Sexual slave trade, also known as sex
trafficking, involves forcing men, women, and
children to work as prostitutes and in other
jobs in the sex industry.
Such victims usually are vulnerable in
different ways, i.e. runaways, homeless, poor,
and drug addicts.
Pornography is the selling of images,
writings, and videos in which people are
treated as objects of pleasure, promoting a
distorted view on sexuality.
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The media uses sexuality to sell different
items, from body wash to clothing, by
focusing on sexual body parts.
This form of advertising causes men and
women to be self conscience about their
bodies, making people worry about the way
they look instead of who they are as a person.
We work for justice against these structures
of sin by first not participating in these sins,
and then advocating for their control and
eventual elimination.
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The structures of sin
revolving around sex are
based in greed since
millions upon millions of
dollars are spent around
the world on such
services and items.
Sexual exploitation has
become one of the
gravest structures of sin
in our time and we are
called to help those stuck
in the abuse of such a
terrible societal structure.
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Racism is treating people of a different race
without the full respect their equal dignity
requires.
Throughout human history, war, slavery, and
distrust has existed between different races
of people with the prejudice lasting for
hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
In America, Africans were brought from their
homes thousands of miles away by force to
be slaves on plantations in the 1700’s.
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During the years of immigration to the United
States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
Irish, Italians, and other Europeans were treated
as second class citizens by those who were
already living in America.
Over the past 150 years, racism has been
challenged and abolished in the United States,
yet this does not mean racism is eradicated
unfortunately.
African Americans and Latinos are today looked
down upon by society in certain poor and
overcrowded cities, being treated unfairly for no
reason other than structures of sin based on
racism still present in society.
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A hundred years ago, race was thought to be
defined by skin color, hair type, and body
proportions; however, genetic DNA testing
has found that there are few, if any,
differences between races.
Race can be said to be a societal construct,
grouping people of a similar background;
however, this is a problem too since many
cultures can be generalized into one “race,”
i.e. Hispanics can be Puerto Rican, Chilean,
Mexican, etc.
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As a working definition then, we can define
Race as a group of people defined by physical
characteristics and/ or a common cultural
background.
A Racist is a person who discriminates
against people based on race.
We are not born with racist attitudes, we
unfortunately learn them.
Racism is a sin individuals commit, but has
been perpetuated by societal structures of
sin.
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We learn racist attitudes by way of stereotyping,
prejudice, and discrimination.
We treat people the way we view them, usually
based on assumptions that are founded in racial
stereotypes.
A Stereotype is a commonly held belief about
what a race of people believes or how they act.
The problem with stereotypes is that they are
often inaccurate, and if accurate, they do not
reflect the entire race; stereotypes do not respect
the uniqueness of people.
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Prejudice is a display of ignorance, fear, or
hostility toward a racial group based on
preconceived judgments, judgments that are
made without all the facts (or no facts at all).
Prejudice becomes discrimination when people in
power deny members of a particular race the
ability to participate in society.
Discrimination is often manifested in segregation
laws.
African Americans were discriminated against in
the United States by first taking away their basic
human rights and enslaving them, then denying
them the right to vote, and then discriminating
against them in the job market.
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In 1979, the United States Catholic bishops
released the document called “Brothers and
Sisters to Us,” speaking out against the
horrors of racism.
“Racism is a sin that says some human beings
are inherently superior and others essentially
inferior because of races.”
Jesus’ death restored humanity as one family,
which was symbolically lost at the Tower of
Babel when God made people speak different
tongues.
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Racism is a social
“weapon of mass
destruction.”
We are called to fight
racism in society since
it divides, rather than
unifies, all people who
may look different and
come from differing
backgrounds, yet are
still part of one large
family: the human
race.
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Immigration is the movement of a person or
group of people to a new country, usually to take
up a permanent residence.
The opposite of immigration is Emigration, or the
movement of people out of a country.
Immigration has become a hot political and
emotional issue in the United States; some
people say that immigrants are bad because they
take away jobs from native born citizens, while
others say immigrants are good because they
take jobs native born citizens don’t want to do.
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For these reasons, it is difficult to have a
conversation about immigration that is based on
the Gospel values and on reason.
The Church has spoken about Migration, or the
movement of a person or group of people from
one place to another (usually without permanent
residence), with reason and clarity in numerous
documents.
It is difficult to determine the difference between
migration and immigration, because sometimes
people migrate with the intention of returning
home one day, yet never do…so are they
migrants or immigrants?
◦ The terms are used interchangeably for this reason.
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Migration and immigration have been an integral
part of salvation history, including Abraham and
Sarah leaving their homeland to a land God
brought them to, Jacob and his children
migrating to Egypt to escape famine, and the
Israelites escaping Egyptian slavery by the hand
of God.
Many Israelites became migrants and refugees
after the Jewish Diaspora, or the movement of a
people away from an established homeland, after
the fall of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
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Mary and Joseph, along with the child Jesus,
migrated to Egypt to escape the wrath of King
Herod, who was killing all male firstborn
children throughout his kingdom due to the
prophecy of a king, who was Christ.
The family was migrants until King Herod’s
death, returning back home only then.
Christ calls us to care for the foreigner by
“making disciples of all nations,” making all
people of all races into a singular family of God.
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The Church recognizes migration and
immigration as basic human rights, especially
in situations of violence and injustice.
On the other hand, to eliminate the need of
migration in such situations, the Church calls
for an end to the root causes of migration:
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Poverty
Injustice
Lack of Religious Freedom
War
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Pope John Paul II said the solution to illegal
immigration is the elimination of global poverty and
injustice.
The U.S. and Mexican Catholic bishops wrote the
letter, “Strangers No Longer,” in which five social
justice principles were outlined that addressed the
Catholic perspective on immigration and migration:
◦ People have the right to find opportunities in their
homeland
◦ People have the right to migrate to support their families
◦ Sovereign nations have a right to control their borders
◦ Refugees and asylum seekers should be given protection
◦ The human rights and dignity of undocumented workers
should be respected
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People should never be forced to leave their
home, but usually have to because of lack of
jobs, food, and persecution.
If nation’s protected their citizens’ basic
rights, then illegal immigration would be on
the decline.
When goods are not shared within a nation
either, people have the right to move their
families and themselves to another place
where they can build a dignified life.
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The right to migrate, however, is not an absolute
right; if migrants are not coming to another
nation for the rights reasons, i.e. due to injustice
or basic needs, then they can be excluded as
migrants.
However, rich nations are called to welcome
migrants who are escaping desperate, life
threatening situations.
Compassion calls for nations to protect refugees,
or a person who seeks protection in another
country due to war, natural disaster, or
persecution in their home land, until the threat
no longer exists.
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Governments are reminded that all people,
citizens or undocumented workers, have
human dignity that must be respected.
Usually illegal immigrants migrate so as to
pursue the noble goal of building a better life
for themselves and their family.
Governments are asked not to pass laws that
punish or lead to abuse of undocumented
workers who are trying to obtain their human
rights all people deserve.