The Vatican on ‘Infinite’ Human Dignity: Do Humans Look Dignified to You? by Gavin Ashenden

Gavin Ashenden is associate editor of the Catholic Herald. Formerly a priest of the Church of England, and subsequently a continuing Anglican bishop, he was appointed Chaplain to the Queen from 2008 until his resignation in 2017.

There’s a new Vatican document which asserts that human beings, by their very nature, have something called “infinite dignity.” A conversation at the Vatican press conference when Dignitas Infinita was launched offered some helpful insights into the theological presuppositions held by its authors.

Vatican correspondent Diane Montagna asked lead author Cardinal Fernandez: “If man has infinite dignity how can he be condemned to the eternal suffering of Hell?”

He answered:

Pope Francis has said many times that the affirmation of the possibility of condemnation to Hell is a kind of cult (veneration) of human freedom that the human being can choose, and that God wills to respect that freedom, even if it is a limited freedom and even if it is sometimes a darkened or infirm freedom, but God wills to respect it. That is the principle. …