On Individual Rights

COMPENDIUM

The Church, while recognizing a natural inequality among men, upholds the spiritual equality of all men as brothers of one another and as sons of a common Father who is in heaven. She recognizes natural inequality among men, because men are unlike in mental endowment and strength of body, because they differ in aptitude and capability, and because they are unequal in attaining and retaining temporal possessions. There never has been, and never can be purely human equality among men. Yet, she also recognizes a spiritual equality among men, because all have the same spiritual worth, duty, and destiny, because all men have been redeemed by Jesus Christ, and because all men will be judged and rewarded or punished by God according to the exact measure of their merits and of their demerits.

Since all men have equally the same human nature, being made up of body and soul, endowed with the powers of intellect and freewill, and are equal in their origin and in their destiny, all men are also equal in the essential rights and duties that flow from these facts. That is, they cannot be denied without denying the nature of man and his necessary relation to God.

The Church teaches that every individual person has a right to life, a right to be reared and educated, a right to liberty, a right to work, a right to rest and recreation, a right to practice religion, and a right to follow conscience. The right to life implies (1) the right to be born, (2) the right to preserve and defend that life, and (3) the right to maintain that life at a human standard in the matter or food, clothing, and habitation.

The Church upholds the right of the individual to the enjoyment of liberty, in so far as this does not infringe on the equal rights of others. This is essential for maintaining the dignity of human personality and for the self-development of the individual. All undue interference with the liberty of the individual by the State is condemned. That the individual exists for the State is a pagan ideal, and must be vigorously rejected.

The right to work does not mean that any particular employer, or even the State, is bound to find work for a man, unless under exceptional circumstances, as, for example, great distress; but it does mean that a man may not be prevented in seeking to exercise his powers so that he may secure his livelihood. The community is responsible for its economic and industrial system being so ordered, that under normal conditions, all employable persons may find employment. In times of great distress, and particularly of widespread unemployment, the State as well as individual employers must take steps to remedy unemployment, and so remove also its attendant evils. This is demanded not only by the necessity of the individual worker, but also by the necessity of the common welfare.

The Church insists on the right to rest and recreation because they are essential in order that man may live a full and happy human life, and in particular that he may have opportunities of satisfying the claims of religion. This right is apt to be overlooked and disregarded in industrial centers. By Divine precept, man has a right to leisure. Human dignity demands it, and human welfare, which requires that man should work, requires also that he should have rest from work. Above all, man needs leisure in order to attend to the claims of God and his soul, since this life is a preparation for the eternal life of heaven.

The Church teaches that the right to practice religion is supreme; no power, whether of individuals or of the State, may sever that primary and intimate relationship between the soul and God. Therefore, man may not be hindered or prevented in performing the duties of worship, love, and service of the Creator, to whom he owes all that he is and all that he has.

The Church teaches that every man has a right to follow conscience, and to deny him that right is condemned by Natural and Divine Law as immoral and unjust. It is only by following his conscience that man can perform virtuous actions, which are necessary for attaining his last end, and on which his eternal happiness depends. The employer who refuses a man work because of his religion, the landlord who refuses a dwelling to a family because of their religion, the State which refuses equal assistance in education because of religion - all are guilty of practical denials of man's right to follow his conscience.

CATECHISM

191. Are all men equal?

The Church, while recognizing a natural inequality among men, upholds the spiritual equality of all men as brothers of one another and sons of a common Father who is in heaven.

192. Have all men equal rights?

Since all men have equally the same human nature, and are equal in their origin and in their destiny, all men are equal in the essential rights and duties that flow from these facts.

193. What are the essential rights of every individual?

The Church teaches that every individual person has a right to life, a right to be reared and educated, a right to liberty, a right to work, a right to rest and recreation, a right to practice religion, and a right to follow conscience.

194. What does the Church teach regarding the right of the individual to the enjoyment of liberty?

The Church upholds the right of the individual to the enjoyment of liberty, in so far as this does not infringe on the equal rights of others.

195. What is to be understood by the right to work?

The right to work means that a man may not be prevented in seeking to exercise his powers so that he may secure his livelihood.

196. Why does the Church insist on the right to rest and recreation?

The Church insists on the right to rest and recreation because they are essential in order that man may live a full and happy human life, and in particular that he may have opportunities of satisfying the claims of religion.

197. What does the Church teach regarding the individual right to practice religion?

The Church teaches that the right to practice religion is supreme, and that man may not be hindered or prevented in performing the duties owed to his Creator.

198. What does the Church teach regarding freedom of conscience?

The Church teaches that every man has a right to follow conscience, and to deny him that right is condemned by Natural and Divine Law as immoral and unjust.