Human dignity and its threats in socio-moral teaching of Pope Benedict XVI

In the considerations contained in this article, we will pay special attention to the socio-moral teaching of Pope Benedict XVI on the dignity of the human person as a fundamental value and to situations that threaten human dignity in all areas of human life. One may even get the impression that anything that merits moral disapproval (morally reprehensible acts) is treated as a violation of human dignity or as insulting to human dignity. This may be due to the firm approval of the dignity that every human being possesses. This dignity – regardless of the historical and social context – must not be diminished or destroyed, on the contrary, it should be respected and protected. Also, economic, social, political and cultural life should be shaped in such a way that man can find his dignity and be able to realize it, but man, even humiliated, does not lose his dignity, he is still the image of God.