An elderly woman reacts after receiving a gallon of milk during a Christmas event Dec. 21, 2025, in Tijuana in the Mexican state of Baja California. During the event volunteers gave away a variety of different items like blankets, shoes, food and toys to roughly 500 needy people at the House of the Poor, a private charitable institution run by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady of Peace. OSV NEWS PHOTO/CARLOS A. MORENO

Part I: Scripture and the Church’s teaching on the dignity of every person

BY DCN. JAY W. VANHOOSIER, OFFICE OF FAITH FORMATION

Note: This article will be presented in two parts. In this first installment, we examine the biblical and theological foundations for the Church’s teaching on the dignity of every human person. Scripture and Catholic social teaching provide the framework that guides how Christians approach questions of public life and social responsibility. Next month’s second part will look at how these principles are being applied in the contemporary Church through the witness of the pope and the teaching of the bishops.

For Christians, the moral framework by which we evaluate public life does not come from political parties, ideologies, or cultural movements. It comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Throughout Scripture, God repeatedly commands his people to care for the vulnerable, the outsider, and the stranger. In the Old Testament, Israel is reminded of its own history as migrants: “You shall not oppress the alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9)

This command flows from a deeper theological truth: every human person is created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). Because of this, human dignity is not granted by governments or societies; it is inherent to the human person.

Jesus intensifies this teaching in the Gospel. In the final judgment scene of Matthew 25, Christ identifies himself directly with the vulnerable: “I was hungry and you gave me food… a stranger and you welcomed me.”

The striking implication of this passage is that how we treat the vulnerable is how we treat Christ himself.

For this reason, the Church’s social teaching is not a political program but a moral application of the Gospel. The Second Vatican Council articulated this clearly in Gaudium et Spes, which states: “Every type of discrimination… based on race, color, social condition, language or religion must be overcome and eradicated as contrary to God’s intent.” (GS 29)

The Council fathers insisted that the dignity of the human person must be the foundation of every social and political system. They also reminded the faithful that the goods of the earth are meant for all people: “God intended the earth and all it contains for the use of every human being and people.” (GS 69)

Because of these principles, the Church teaches that the dignity of the human person must always take precedence over economic interests, political strategies, or ideological agendas.

When the Church speaks about issues such as immigration, poverty, racism, or the protection of human life, it is not engaging in partisan politics. Rather, it is doing what the Church has always done: proclaiming the moral demands of the Gospel in the public square.

Christians therefore cannot allow political ideologies – whether on the left or the right – to replace the moral vision of Jesus Christ. The baptized belong first to the Kingdom of God, not to any political tribe.

Dcn. Jay W. VanHoosier is the director of faith formation for the Diocese of Owensboro. For more information visit owensborodiocese.org/faith-formation, email [email protected] or call (270) 852-8324.

Originally printed in the April 2026 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.