Rights and Responsibilities
“Woe to him who builds his home on wrong, his terraces on injustice; who
works his neighbor without pay, and gives him no wages. Who says, ‘I will build
myself a spacious house, with airy rooms,’ who cuts out windows for it, panels
it with cedar, and paints it with vermillion. Must you prove your rank among
kings by competing with them in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink? He
did what was right and just, and it went well with him. Because he dispensed justice
to the weak and the poor, it went well with him. Is this not true knowledge of
me? Says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 22:13-16)
The third theme of Catholic
Social Teaching is titled Rights and Responsibilities.
We have, as St. John XXIII says, “the right to live. The right to bodily
integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly
food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social
services. In consequence, (we) have the right to be looked after in the event of
ill health; disability stemming from work; widowhood; old age; enforced
unemployment or whenever through no fault of our own we are deprived of the
means of livelihood.” (Pacem in Terris) He goes on to say that all these
natural rights have a corresponding duty to ensure these same rights to others.
It does society no good at all if we claim rights for ourselves that we are not
ready to work to ensure for all persons.
The Church calls for each of
us to protect the rights of others as a way of protecting our own rights. “Every
person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for
human decency.” (Unites States Conference of Catholic Bishops) We also have the
responsibility to work so that these same rights are protected for others. The
right to food, clothing, shelter, health care and to be cared for in our old
age are not luxuries for those who can afford them. They are fundamental rights
for each person. These rights must be vigorously protected and assured. When
one claims individual rights for oneself but neglects, or even denies, these
rights for others, such a person has denied the basic human dignity of the
other.
“Open your mouth on behalf of the dumb, and for the rights of the
destitute; open your mouth, decree what is just, defend the needy and the poor!”
Proverbs 31:8-9
No comments:
Post a Comment