Art: Saied Muhammad Saleh, 12 years old, Bangladesh.[1]
Human Rights Day is observed each year on December 10th and commemorates the anniversary of the global pledge known as the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" (UDHR), adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. The ground-breaking pledge was a result at the end of World War II when the international community vowed never to allow another atrocity to take place. The UDHR has 30 articles that uphold the rights that every human being is entitled to, no matter the race, language, religion, gender, political opinion, nationality, social class, or economic status.
Article Examples in the UDHR Document:
Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security.
Article 4: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 25.2: Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26.1: Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.
Article 27: Everyone has the right to freely participate in the community's cultural life, enjoy the arts, and share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
Like Human Rights, the Catholic Social Teachings are founded on the inherent dignity of human beings because humanity was created by God and in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). But while the UDHR uses the language of rights, Christianity uses the language of loving God and loving neighbour (Matt 22:37-38) as fundamental to the practice of following Christ. Human Rights and Christ's call to love one's neighbour are one and the same because they sanctify the dignity of the human person by ensuring their basic needs are provided while the individual and collective freedom of all humans, no matter the race, religion, or social status, are upheld on condition that freedom serves the common good for all through justice and peace.
During his address to the United Nations in 1995, Pope St John Paul II recognized the Church's responsibility to speak out with courage for those who have no voice because they are oppressed or denied their right to life.[2] His Holiness went on to issue a warning with reference to Evangelium Vitae (19) on the affirmation of human rights that exalts "the isolated individual in an absolute way" while giving no space to solidarity, openness, and service to one's neighbour.
In other words, while international pledges like the UDHR uphold the "inalienable rights of all human persons,"[3] human rights also come with human responsibilities to love and care for one another.
Pope Francis echoed these sentiments in 2018 when he called for "special attention to be given towards more vulnerable members of our communities" since contemporary society demonstrated that while those who benefit from profit-driven economies lived in comfort and wealth, a vast majority had their human dignity stripped through exploitation, discrimination, and the violation of their human rights.[4] [3]
Columban Missionary Priest to the Philippines, Fr. Shay Cullen, provides context to profit-driven economies in what he calls a "so-called Catholic country" where many kind and good people live, but only 0.1% of the population owns 46% of the nation's total wealth.[5] Fr. Cullen offers a reminder that the Jesus of Nazareth who Christians proclaim to follow, missioned on earth for a kingdom, that is here and now, where equality and justice for all humanity existed as a shared responsibility and right towards God, neighbour, and oneself.
Adi Mariana Waqa is the Partnership Coordinator at the Columban Mission Centre in Essendon.
