Dear Parishioners,

This past Monday, The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a document called “Dignitas Infinita” which is translated, “Infinite Dignity.” I spoke about this at the 8:30 Mass I celebrated this morning (Wednesday, April 10th) because ironically (or maybe not), the opening prayer for Mass spoke about the “original dignity of human nature.” Our prayer reflects what we believe, and this document, which took five years to complete, emphasizes the equal dignity of all people. It address a wide range of issues that face us in our culture today, from war and poverty to gender theory and digital violence.

The document also reaffirms the Church’s opposition to gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy, as well as abortion and euthanasia, while also discussing the sanctity of marriage as a lifelong sacrament between a man and a woman. I find it important to also share with you Bishop Robert Barron’s thoughts on this document, as one who is known as a great evangelist in the Church today. He warns that the Church’s release of Dignitas Infinita must not categorize the faith as “left” or “right.” He says that this document aims to outline many of the most pressing threats to human dignity in the modern world. "In the light of Revelation, the Church resolutely reiterates and confirms the ontological dignity of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God and redeemed in Jesus Christ," the document states in its beginning. The document criticizes gender ideology & surrogacy as bioethical crimes against the human person. Barron said "Catholic social teaching transcends the left/right split in western politics…Notice how this document emphasizes a number of issues dear to the left — migration, poverty, opposition to war, violence against women — and a number of issues of importance to the right — abortion, euthanasia, gender ideology — and still others that both sides would advocate: opposing human trafficking, care for people with disabilities, sexual abuse."

The document also says, "Regarding gender theory, whose scientific coherence is the subject of considerable debate among experts, the Church recalls that human life in all its dimensions, both physical and spiritual, is a gift from God…This gift is to be accepted with gratitude and placed at the service of the good. Desiring a personal self-determination, as gender theory prescribes, apart from this fundamental truth that human life is a gift, amounts to a concession to the age-old temptation to make oneself God, entering into competition with the true God of love revealed to us in the Gospel.”

Regarding surrogacy, the document says: First and foremost, the practice of surrogacy violates the dignity of the child. Indeed, every child possesses an intangible dignity that is clearly expressed – albeit in a unique and differentiated way – at every stage of his or her life: from the moment of conception, at birth, growing up as a boy or girl, and becoming an adult," the dicastery wrote in the document. "Because of this unalienable dignity, the child has the right to have a fully human (and not artificially induced) origin and to receive the gift of a life that manifests both the dignity of the giver and that of the receiver.”

There is so much more I could add to what I have included here but of course space and time is limited. But I ask that you seriously and prayerfully read about this important document on your own, using media from the Church that will accurately portray its contents. Feel free to ask me any questions that you may have about the statements made public in the Church on these important and relevant issues.

Fr. James. P. Schmitz