Human Rights and Catholic Church - Essay Example

Human Rights and Catholic Church 3053A Introduction: Human rights mean the "Basic rights and freedoms, to which everyone is en d, either morally,legally or officially. They are designed to limit the power of the state. Human rights include right to a fair trial, freedom of speech, thought and conscience, and freedom from torture and slavery." (Definitions. Human Rights. 2005). The Report of the Think Tank on "Strengthening the United Nations Mechanisms for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights" in which Dr. Joseph Masciulli was an active participant makes the following observation. "Today, the universality and indivisibility of human rights are increasingly being acknowledged internationally, and range of individuals, organizations and institutions devoted to achieving full enjoyment of human rights throughout the world have emerged." (The Report of the Think Tank on "Strengthening the United Nations Mechanisms for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights"). The present age has been marked by the attempts of different types that ultimately aim at human rights. Catholic community has been safeguarding the human right endeavors universally. As opposed to the general conception, Catholic Church has always been advocating for the Human Rights and other privileges that make the life of the human beings better and easier. The Church has always given priority to the necessities of all the men and has stood for the well-being of the humanity. This humanity-based approach of the Church has been made clear through the various types of teachings and preaching of the Church. It is, by nature, driven by the better living standard of its followers as well as the entire human race. This is the same reason why the Catholic Church has always raised chorus of disapproval whenever there is a violation of human freedom and threat to the peaceful existence of human. Such uproars for the cause of the humankind have been powerful voice that has touched the universal conscience. Among the many examples of this human concern of the Catholic Church stands the contribution made by Pope John XXIII who made a major appeal for the universal Human Rights through the encyclical Pacem in Terris or, to use the English full title, On Establishing Universal Peace in Truth, Justice, Charity and Liberty which was issued on 11 April 1963. The encyclical that addressed the faithful of the Catholic Church as well as "All Men of Good Will" obviously aimed at the human race as a whole. (John XXIII, 1963). Apart from the reaction to the political situation of the time, the encyclical also intended to emphasize the significance of respect of Human Rights as an indispensable corollary of the Christian understanding of men. In the encyclical the Pope emphatically states, "By the natural law every human being has the right to respect for his person, to his good reputation; the right to freedom in searching for truth and in expressing and communicating his opinions, and in pursuit of art, within the limits laid down by the moral order and the common good; and he has the right to be informed truthfully about public events." (John XXIII, 1963, para 12). The first section of the encyclical that aims to establish a vital relationship covers the issues of human rights and moral duties. It is the relationship between man and man as individuals. The encyclical, in the next section, goes on to address the relationship between state and man residing on the shared authority of the former. In the third section, the encyclical makes clear the necessity for equality among the different nations and the need for the state to be subject to rights and duties that the individual has to oblige by. The fourth and the final section of the encyclical clarifies the inevitability for greater relationship between world nations thereby mutually assisting for the cause of the humanity. The universally acclaimed encyclical ends with a plea to the entire Catholic community to assist the non-Catholics as well as the non-Christians in political and social aspect. Let us understand the role of the Catholic Church, especially through the encyclical Pacem in Terris, in the enhancement of the human rights efforts of the world. Catholic community internationally acknowledges its responsibility on observing peace and justice in the world and recognizes that they can be achieved only on the basis of fundamental rights and the efforts to safeguard the human rights universally. The most important human right declarations in the world are Human Rights 200 years ago, declared the rights of Person and the Citizen. 50 years ago, the universal declaration of human rights of the United Nations and six years ago, the United Nations Declaration: Women's Rights. Catholic Church's contribution with regard to the human rights had always been a subject of controversy as many Popes obviously stood away from the efforts for the advancement of human rights. It was mainly because they believed the hierarchical and feudal structure of the church and vindicated as it were the will of God. The Catholic Church's vision on human right had changed throughout the centuries as they started understanding the value of human rights and its paramount importance in the modern world. Bishops of England and Wales in their statement in 1996, 'The Common Good and the Catholic Church's Social Teaching,' state that bona fide human rights are the expressions of fundamental right to live. "Every member of the community has a duty to the common good in order that the rights of others can be satisfied and their freedoms respected. Those whose rights and freedoms are being denied should be helped to claim them. Indeed, human rights have come to represent that striving for freedom from tyranny and despotism for which the human spirit has always yearned." (Department of International Affairs, 1998). Encyclical Pacem in Terris: The papal encyclical issued by the great man Pope XXIII in 1963 remains the most important encyclical of the 20th century. This is an encyclical that also instituted certain principles that characterized in other encyclicals like the Second Vatican Council and the encyclicals of the other popes as well. It is hard to make out the precise beginning of modern Catholic peacemaking, but the church had been acting as a guardian of peace for a long time. Pope Benedict XV had been given the credit for beginning peacemaking efforts to the end of First World War. We owe to Benedict for his famous phrase against war, 'never again, War never again.' The modern Catholic peacemaking got it true dimension with the arrival of Pope John XXIII. He had played a remarkable role in the Catholic peacemaking effort, that too in the midst of the most dangerous post war confrontation period; the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world in the brink of nuclear war. "Pope John Paul II also referenced the Cuban missile crisis, an event that brought humanity to the brink of nuclear war. The Cuban missile crisis made extremely clear the constant danger posed by the threat of "cold war," in which humanity was condemned to "hope against hope that neither an act of aggression nor an accident would trigger the worst war in human history." In the context of those dramatic circumstances, there prevailed in John XXIII an innate optimism, or rather a great trust in Providence, that is, a deep conviction that the action of God the Father is always present in the life of every human being, in the history of every people, and in that of the entire human family." (Martino, 2004, P. 2). He not only played an active role in peacemaking but also issued the encyclical letter, 'Pacem In Terris' on peace and that has evoked significant influence on the Vatican Council, UN, and the international community world wide. It emphasizes the importance on human rights as the foundation of peace. Catholic teachings insist that peace does not mean the absence of war. It is the realization and preservation of human dignity in the human family. The vision of peace consists of several important components, the first and the foremost is the human rights. The other important components are development, solidarity and world order. Pacem in Terris re-visualize the entire Catholic political theology in terms of human rights. The common welfare was identified as the respect, objective recognition, safeguarding and promotion of rights of the human person. The encyclical proclaimed that upholding common good was the goal of international community. It upholds the right of person over right of states and promotes the universal common good for the peace in the international community. The proper progress of human society is something more than just economic progress of a nation. The developed nations of the world have the responsibility to help the poor, not just through aid, but also through helping them to attain progress and stand by their own. Pope John XXIII was keen to offer shining examples for his ideas that he wants to convey and the most touching aspect of the encyclical is the generosity of the Pope's statement about the right and duties of the human being. The acceptance of the place of woman in the modern society and his consideration for woman in relation with profession is the real evidence of his acceptance of the modern progress. Pope uses the three great words 'truth, justice and charity' repeatedly in his encyclical and illustrates each word carefully to demonstrate the necessity of these qualities in the present circumstance and he boldly add the fourth important word 'freedom' and he correlate the word with order as it is the basic principle of political order. He took the initiative to redefine world order and went ahead and explained that the world order which the modern world was looking for was not the order imposed by force or based on fear but the order which come naturally as the product of observing the right and duties of human person that ultimately brings about the order which was based on peace. He dared to declare himself against all the political powers which denied the freedom of citizen and proclaimed it as the birth right of each human person and it as the will of God. The encyclical stands for the 'universal common good' which can only be achieved by the promotion of human right and duties in each person and in the society internationally to promote the world peace in the context of ideological, economical and military conflicts gave raise in the world and was about to divide the world in to two or even bringing the world in the brink of nuclear war. The significance of encyclical increases in the context of the international political concept failed to workout a solution for world peace. Human Rights and Pacem in Terris: One of the main concerns of the encyclical, as we have seen is to strongly emphasize the need of the human rights in a world devoid of a culture that encourages peace and prosperity of all the human beings. The right to life is considered as the fundamental human right and all the other rights develop from this basic right to enhance the life of individual. The right of religious liberty, housing, decent work, health care, education, freedom of speech are all derived from the fundamental right to live for making the life of a person more truly human. Pope John XXIII in his famous encyclical Pacem in Terris Man emphasizes the fundamental rights of man. "Man has the right to live. He has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services. In consequence, he has the right to be looked after in the event of ill health; disability stemming from his work; widowhood; old age; enforced unemployment; or whenever through no fault of his own he is deprived of the means of livelihood." (John XXIII, encyclical, 1963). Man cannot live by bread alone as he is a social animal and has the natural right to be respected and good name. Human being holds moral and social values and has the right to freedom of truth and freedom of expression and the right to have profession. As a social being man has the right to be informed about public events. Man has the right for general education and technical education consistent with the standard of nation. Talented and gifted individuals are to be recognized and opportunities need to be facilitated to exercise their talent for the welfare of society. A man has the right to worship god according to his conscience and to profess his religion publicly and privately. Every human has his own right to choose what kind of a life he wants to lead that is whether to have family or to lead a religious life. In the social, economical affairs as well as the faith and morals, the interest of the family has to be given prime important as the family is the primary cell of human society. A man has the right to have profession as well as the right to exercise personal initiative in his profession he does. He has a right to have a profession which helps to him to meet his needs and at the same time, it should not weaken his health or harm the proper development of his health at any means. Women must be bestowed upon considerations on profession so as to sustain her responsibilities as wives and mothers. Man has the right to engage economic activities suitable to his dignity and the wages need to be appropriate and sufficient to meet his expenses to have a standard living condition to uphold his human dignity. "Nature imposes work upon man as a duty, and man has the corresponding natural right to demand that the work he does shall provide him with the means of livelihood for himself and his children. Such is nature's categorical imperative for the preservation of man.'' (John XXIII, encyclical, 1963). He has the right to own private ownership of property to exercise responsibility and asserting personality in the society that provides security in his family life and in turns it nurtures the prosperity in the state. Right to own private property is a necessary obligation of every man. Man has the right to meet together and form associations with his fellow human beings. Man needs to participate on associations to achieve the calculated objectives of his life which is supreme important to every man as far as his life is concerned. It is absolutely necessary to encourage founding of new groups or societies which meant for safeguarding certain values and rights with greater responsibility to the community. In a global world each man is part of human society. And so he should not be deprived the right of immigrating to any other country as it is the part of freedom of movement. He is free to have membership in the human family of this universe as he is the part of universal society. This significant in the context of cold war period when world divided in to two hostile groups and the peace is at risk. Finally, the encyclical also adds that man has the political right to take an active participation in public life to make his own contribution to the welfare of the society and he declared each man has the right to have legal security on his rights which must be effective, unbiased and strictly just. "In consequence of that juridical order willed by God, man has his own inalienable right to juridical security. To him is assigned a certain, well-defined sphere of law, immune from arbitrary attack." (John XXIII, encyclical, 1963). John XXIII was very much concerned about the importance of human rights in the global situations then. He also felt the great role that the UN could play in the same. In the encyclical he presented his "ardent desire that the United Nations Organization may be able more and more to adapt its structure and its methods of operation to the magnitude and nobility of its tasks."(John XXIII, 1963). There were specific ways suggested by the Pope for the Organization to adapt. He wanted the UN to effectively safeguard the rights of the human beings especially those which derive directly from the dignity of the human person and are, therefore, universal. The ideas put forward by the papal encyclical have the relevance and greatness as it had in 1963. The encyclical reminds us of the important role that state can play in the human right movement. "We must always remember that States exist to serve and protect people, and not the other way round. And we should be grateful to those great spiritual leaders, like Pope John XXIII, who remind us of that essential truth." (Pacem in Terris, 2003). Pope, in the encyclical, points out that man who enjoys right should observe that it properly and he should acknowledge the duties that he is to observe. Pope John points out that man enjoys the rights have duties to perform to mark his dignity in the society. Rights and duties are interrelated each other one do not enjoy the right without performing his duties. Pope praises Universal Declaration of Human rights of United Nation for it is a vital step on the in the direction of the juridico-political organization of the world community. The encyclical stresses the personal rights as well as the personal obligations in the right proportion as both are intrinsically interrelates each other. One who enjoys the right should also have the responsibility to preserve the right of others as one enjoy the right of life should preserve the life of others too. The opening statement of the encyclical Pacem in Terris reminds us of the importance of world peace and the way to achieve this. "Peace on earth, which all men of every era have most eagerly yearned for, can be firmly established only if the order laid down by God be dutifully observed." (John XXIII, 1963). The primary concern of the papal encyclical is to fight against the issues that stand as a hurdle to the world peace and prosperity. The need to treat human beings as the children of God and to establish a universal brotherhood to fight the forces of war and related activities is emphasized. The freedom of the children of God alone can save the world from the trouble of the time. For the same reason a human right oriented activity is suggested. The article then goes on to treat the different aspects of the human rights and in conclusion it calls for a joint effort to see that the human beings jointly fight the threats against universal peace and human rights. Thus, Pacem in Terris is a popular that deals with many issues including the importance of universal peace in truth, justice, charity and liberty. The encyclical letter proposes to provide a means for this universal peace when it stresses the importance of human rights. In the first section of the encyclical Pope John XXIII aims to establish a vitality of the issues of human rights and moral duties. The relationship between man and man as individuals is emphasized. Then it attempts to address the relationship between state and man residing on the shared authority of the former. The third section of the encyclical makes clear the necessity for equality among the different nations and the need for the state to be subject to rights and duties that the individual has to oblige by. The final section of the encyclical clarifies the inevitability for greater relationship between world nations thereby mutually assisting for the cause of the humanity. Thus the encyclical has been crucial in the Church's attempt to establish the importance of the human rights. No wonder, there has been no other encyclical that achieved the greater popularity than Pacem in Terris. Reference John XXIII. (1963). Pacem in Terris, Peace on Earth. Catholic social teaching. Retrieved November 21, 2007, from http://www.osjspm.org/majordoc_pacem_in_terris_official_text.aspx John XXIII. (1963). Pacem in Terris, Peace on Earth. Catholic social teaching. Paragragh.12. Retrieved November 21, 2007, from http://www.osjspm.org/majordoc_pacem_in_terris_official_text.aspx Department of International Affairs. (1998). Human Right and the Catholic Church. Reflection on the jubilee of the universal declaration of human rights. Retrieved November 21, 2007, from http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/resource/hr01/ Martino, Renato Cardinal. (2004). The Church and the International Order. Ave Maria law review. P. 2. Retrieved November 21, 2007, from http://72.14.235.104/searchq=cache:lig1fQSkIasJ:www.avemarialaw.edu/publications/lawReview/Articles/AMLR.v2i1.martino.final.ws.pdf+review+PACEM+IN+TERRIS+pope+John+XXIII&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=74&gl=in John XXIII, Pope. (1963). Pacem in Terris. Encyclical. Retrieved November 21, 2007, from http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_xxiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_11041963_pacem_en.html Pacem in Terris. (2003). The secretary general opening address at seminar to commemorate the 40th of the papal encyclical. Retrieved November 21, 2007, from http://www.holyseemission.org/pacem-annan.html Definitions. Human Rights. (2005) Beeing Heard. Retrieved November 23, 2007, from http://www.beingheard.org.uk/content/default.asppage=s16&glossSectID=H The Report of the Think Tank on "Strengthening the United Nations Mechanisms for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights" Droits et Democratie Rights & Democracy. Retrieved November 23, 2007, from http://www.dd-rd.ca/site/_PDF/publications/intHRadvocacy/thinkTankEng.pdf Read More