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FAITH FORMATION: Promoting Human Rights &
Responsibilities 
Last revised:
February 7, 2011 4:24 PM
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Catholic Social Teaching: Promoting Human Rights and
Responsibilities The Catholic tradition
teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved
only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Every person
has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human
decency. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities - to one
another, to our families, to the larger society, and to the global community.
| On this
Page: Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
"You Have the Right | Fr. Randy On Torture
| You
Have the Right
.. to
remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of
law. You have the right to speak to an attorney
. Is there
anyone who does not recognize the Miranda rights? If youve ever watched
a television cop show, you know the words. We all hope that we never hear them
being read to us, but we do know our rights! However do we know our
human rights? Fifty-seven years ago, on December 10, 1948, the United
Nations adopted the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. This list of thirty rights defines the rights
that belong equally to every human being. Amnesty International has published
a short summary of these rights. They list them as follows: The Right to
equality; freedom from discrimination; life, liberty, personal security;
freedom from slavery; freedom from torture and degrading treatment; recognition
as a person before the law; equality before the law; remedy by competent tribunal;
freedom from arbitrary arrest, exile; a fair public hearing; to be considered
innocent until proven guilty; freedom from interference with privacy, family,
home and correspondence; free movement in and out of any country; to asylum in
other countries from persecution; to a nationality and the freedom to change
it; to marriage and family; to own property; freedom of belief and religion; freedom
of opinion and information; of peaceful assembly and association; to participate
in government and free elections; to social security; to desirable work and to
join trade unions; to rest and leisure; to adequate living standards; to education;
to participate in cultural life and community; to social order assuring human
rights; community duties essential to free and full development; and freedom from
state and personal interference in the above rights. Here in the
United States we have something called the Bill
of Rights. How do these rights compare to the United Nations list? Cal
Poly Tech published this brief summary of the Bill of Rights: Freedom of
religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition; right to keep and bear arms in
order to maintain a well-regulated militia; no quartering of soldiers; freedom
from unreasonable searches and seizures; right to due process of law, freedom
from self-incrimination, double jeopardy; rights of accused persons, e.g. right
to a speedy and public trial; right of trial by jury in civil cases; freedom from
excessive bail, cruel and unusual punishment; other rights of the people; powers
reserved to the states. Which list is closer to our beliefs as
Catholic Christians? Pope John Paul II gave us some insight into our God-given
human rights when he addressed the 34th General Assembly of the United Nations
on October 2, 1979. John Paul II stated that the Church endorses:
the right to life, liberty and security of the person;
the right to food, clothing, housing, sufficient health care, rest and leisure;
the right to freedom of expression, education and culture; the right to freedom
of thought, conscience and religion; the right to manifest ones religion
either individually or in community, in public or in private; the right to choose
a state of life, to found a family and to enjoy all conditions necessary for family
life; the right to property and work, to adequate working conditions and a just
wage; the right of assembly and association; the right to freedom of movement,
to internal and external migration; the right to nationality and residence; the
right to political participation and the right to participate in the free choice
of the political system of the people to which one belongs. It
is interesting to note that the rights listed by Pope John Paul II are much closer
to the United Nations list than to the Bill of Rights. The problem is that the
Bill of Rights has the rule of law to support it while the United Nations
list is only a moral declaration a human rights wish list. Why
should we care about a wish list of human rights? We know that we will never achieve
perfect human rights. Yet our faith requires that we constantly strive for a better
world for all of Gods children. This list can help us to compare the
laws that we pass in this country to the ultimate goal of human rights for all.
When we discuss laws on torture, immigration, legal treatment of suspected
terrorists, wages, privacy, health care etc. do we consider whether our
laws protect or violate human rights? Is it our goal as a nation to protect human
rights or do we let fear rule our decisions? Is it right to sacrifice human
rights to national security? There are many questions and no easy answers. Let
us pray that an awareness of the worth and the dignity of every human life will
help us to make the right choices. To find out more about human rights,
go to: |
| Fr. Randy
On Torture Between Holy Thursday and The
Easter Vigil is the commemoration of our Lords passion and execution, or
Good Friday. A recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center disclosed that
Roman Catholics in the United States are more likely to condone torture than is
the general public. Twenty-one percent of Catholics believed torture is often
justified, compared with fifteen percent of the general populace; thirty-five
percent felt torture was sometimes justified, compared with thirty-one
percent of general public. Twenty-six percent of Catholics stated that torture
is never justified, compared with thirty-percent of the general public
that claimed torture is never justified. This research is
disheartening, especially as we approach Good Friday. It is true that the Church
itself practiced torture in the times of the Inquisition. This was one of the
practices for which Pope John Paul II asked forgiveness at the end of the last
millennium. Since 1965 the Catholic Church
has taught that the use of torture is intrinsically evil. When the
Second Person of the Blessed Trinity became human, he gave human nature an unequivocal
dignity. The use of torture is a direct denial and attack upon that God-given
dignity. It is an insult to the Creator and a form of terrorism that debases both
victim and perpetrator. I encourage the members of our faith community
to ponder your response to torture in the light of Church teaching and in the
context of our Lords passion, death and resurrection. Fr.
Randy Phillips, The Flame, April 9, 2006 | 
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