RIDDLES

III. THE MANY

ASPECTS OF
THE HUMAN
PERSON
Contents of This Report
● A. THE UNITY OF THE PERSON
● B. OPENNESS TO TRANSCENDENCE AND UNIQUENESS OF THE
PERSON
● C. THE FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN PERSON
● D. THE EQUAL DIGNITY OF ALL PEOPLE
● E. THE SOCIAL NATURE OF HUMAN BEINGS
124. In the past there has been no lack of various reductionist
conceptions of the human person, many of which are still
dramatically present on the stage of modern history. These are
ideological in character or are simply the result of widespread forms
of custom or thought concerning mankind, human life and human
destiny. The common denominator among these is the attempt to
make the image of man unclear by emphasizing only one of his
characteristics at the expense of all the others.

Prizing highly the marvellous biblical message, the

Church's social doctrine stops to dwell above all on the
principal and indispensable dimensions of the human
person. Thus, it is able to grasp the most significant facets
of the mystery and dignity of human beings.
125. The human person may never be thought of only as an
absolute individual being, built up by himself and on himself,
as if his characteristic traits depended on no one else but
himself. Nor can the person be thought of as a mere cell of an
organism that is inclined at most to grant it recognition in its
functional role within the overall system.
Reductionist conceptions of the full truth of men and women
have already been the object of the Church's social concern
many times, and she has not failed to raise her voice against
these, as against other drastically reductive perspectives,
taking care to proclaim instead that “individuals do not feel
themselves isolated units, like grains of sand, but united by the
very force of their nature and by their internal destiny, into an
organic, harmonious mutual relationship”.
126. “Christian faith, while inviting that whatever is good and worthy of man should be
sought out wherever it may be found (cf. 1 Thes 5:21) is above and is sometimes
opposed to the ideologies”, in that it recognizes God, who is transcendent and the
Creator, and who, through all the levels of creation, calls on man as endowed with
responsibility and freedom.

The Church's social doctrine strives to indicate the different dimensions of the mystery
of man, who must be approached “in the full truth of his existence, of his personal being
and also of his community and social being”, with special attention so that the value of
the human person may be readily perceived.
A. THE UNITY OF THE PERSON
128. Through his corporeality man unites in himself elements
127. Man was created by God in of the material world; these “reach their summit through him,
unity of body and soul. “The and through him raise their voice in free praise of the Creator”.
spiritual and immortal soul is the It is not proper to despise bodily life; rather “man is obliged to
principle of unity of the human regard his body as good and honourable since God has created
being, whereby it exists as a it and will raise it up on the last day”.
whole — corpore et anima unus —
as a person. The person,
including the body, is completely
entrusted to himself, and it is in
the unity of body and soul that
the person is the subject of his
own moral acts”.
Through his spirituality man moves beyond the realm of mere things and plunges into the
innermost structure of reality. When he enters into his own heart, that is, when he reflects
on his destiny, he discovers that he is superior to the material world because of his unique
dignity as one who converses with God, under whose gaze he makes decisions about his life.
In his inner life he recognizes that the person has “a spiritual and immortal soul” and he
knows that the person is not merely “a speck of nature or a nameless constituent of the
city of man”.
129. Therefore, man has two different characteristics: he is a material
being, linked to this world by his body, and he is a spiritual being, open
to transcendence and to the discovery of “more penetrating truths”,
thanks to his intellect, by which “he shares in the light of the divine
mind”. The Church affirms: “The unity of soul and body is so profound
that one has to consider the soul to be the ‘form' of the body: i.e., it is
because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a
living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures
united, but rather their union forms a single nature”. Neither the
spiritualism that despises the reality of the body nor the materialism
that considers the spirit a mere manifestation of the material that do
justice to the complex nature, to the totality or to the unity of the
human being.
B. OPENNESS TO TRANSCENDENCE AND
UNIQUENESS OF THE PERSON

a.Open to transcendence
130. Openness to transcendence belongs to the human
person: man is open to the infinite and to all created beings.
- He is open above all to the infinite — God — because with his
intellect and will he raises himself above all the created order and
above himself, he becomes independent from creatures, is free in
relation to created things and tends towards total truth and the
absolute good.
- He is open also to others, to the men and women of the world,
because only insofar as he understands himself in reference to a
“thou” can he say “I”. He comes out of himself, from the self-
centred preservation of his own life, to enter into a relationship of
dialogue and communion with others.
The human person is open to the fullness of being, to the unlimited horizon of being.

- He has in himself the ability to transcend the individual

particular objects that he knows, thanks effectively to his
openness to unlimited being.
- In a certain sense the human soul is — because of its
cognitive dimension — all things: “all immaterial things
enjoy a certain infiniteness, insofar as they embrace
everything, or because it is a question of the essence of a
spiritual reality that functions as a model and likeness of
everything, as is the case with God, or because it has a
likeness to everything or is ‘in act' like the Angels or ‘in
potential' like souls”[245].
b. Unique and unrepeatable
131. Man exists as a unique and unrepeatable being, he exists as
an “I” capable of self-understanding, self-possession and self-
determination.

- The human person is an intelligent and conscious being, capable

of reflecting on himself and therefore of being aware of himself
and his actions.
- However, it is not intellect, consciousness and freedom that
define the person, rather it is the person who is the basis of the
acts of intellect, consciousness and freedom. These acts can
even be absent, for even without them man does not cease to be
a person.
The human person, must always be understood in his unrepeatable and inviolable uniqueness.
- In fact, man exists above all as a subjective entity, as a centre of consciousness and freedom, whose unique life
experiences, comparable to those of no one else, underlie the inadmissibility of any attempt to reduce his status
by forcing him into preconceived categories or power systems, whether ideological or otherwise.
- This entails above all the requirement not only of simple respect on the part of others, especially political and
social institutions and their leaders with regard to every man and woman on the earth, but even more, this means
that the primary commitment of each person towards others, and particularly of these same institutions, must be
for the promotion and integral development of the person.
C. THE FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN PERSON
a. The value and limits of freedom
135. Man's dignity demands that he act according
to a knowing and free choice that is personally
motivated and prompted from within, neither under
blind internal impulse nor by external pressure. Man
must form and guide, by his own free initiative, his
personal and social life, accepting personal
responsibility for it. In this way man generates
himself, he is father of his own being, he constructs
the social order.
136. Revelation teaches that the power to decide good and evil
does not belong to man but to God alone (cf. Gen 2:16-17).
Freedom is not contrary to man's dependence as a creature on God.
In fact, human freedom finds its authentic and complete fulfilment
precisely in the acceptance of that law.

137. Christian theology is concerned with the spiritual and moral

capacities of the individual and the permanent need for inner
conversion if one is to achieve the economic and social changes
that will truly be at the service of man. Removing injustices
promotes human freedom and dignity; nonetheless, "the first thing
to be done is to appeal to the spiritual capacity of the individual".
b. The bond uniting freedom with truth and the natural law
138. In the exercise of their freedom, men and women
perform morally good acts that are constructive for the 140. The exercise of freedom implies a reference to a natural
person and for society when they are obedient to truth, that moral law, that precedes and unites all rights and duties. In
is, when they do not presume to be the creators and its principal precepts, the divine and natural law is presented
absolute masters of truth or of ethical norms. When the in the Decalogue. Its central focus is the act of aspiring and
contrary is the case, freedom dies, destroying man and submitting to God, the source and judge of everything that is
society. good.

139. "The truth concerning good and evil is recognized in a 141. In the diversity of cultures, the natural law unites
practical and concrete manner by the judgment of peoples, enjoining common principles. Its application may
conscience, which leads to the acceptance of responsibility require adaptations to the many different conditions of life
for the good accomplished and the evil committed". "The according to place, time and circumstances. Even when it is
maturity and responsibility of these judgments are not rejected in its very principles, it cannot be destroyed or
measured by the liberation of the conscience from objective removed from the heart of man.
truth, but by an insistent search for truth and by allowing
oneself to be guided by that truth in one's actions".
142. The moral code lays the indispensable
moral foundation for building the human
community and for establishing the civil law
that draws its consequences from the
principles of the natural law. Those who
proclaim themselves to be the sole measure of
realities and of truth cannot live peacefully in
143. Too often freedom prefers evil and being society with their fellow men and cooperate
selfishly closed off, raising itself to the status of a with them. Only freedom rooted in a common
divinity that creates good and evil. Christ shows us nature can make all men responsible and
that freedom attains its fulfilment in the gift of self. enable them to justify public morality.
By his sacrifice on the cross, Jesus places man once
more in communion with God and his neighbour.
D. THE EQUAL DIGNITY OF ALL PEOPLE

144. “God shows no partiality”,since all people have the same dignity as creatures made in his image
and likeness( Rom 2:11)
The Incarnation of the Son of God shows the equality of all people with regard to dignity: “There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all
one in Christ Jesus
Since something of the glory of God shines on the face of every person, the dignity of every person
before God is the basis of the dignity of man before other men
Moreover, this is the ultimate foundation of the radical equality and brotherhood among all people,
regardless of their race, nation, sex, origin, culture, or class.
145. Only the recognition of human dignity can make possible the common and personal growth of
everyone (cf. James2:1-9).
To stimulate this kind of growth it is necessary in particular to help the least, effectively ensuring conditions
of equal opportunity for men and women and guaranteeing an objective equality between the different social
classes before the law
Also in relations between peoples and States, conditions of equality and parity are prerequisites for the
authentic progress of the international community
Despite the steps taken in this direction, it must not forget that there still exist many inequalities and forms
of dependence
Together with equality in the recognition of the dignity of each person and of every people there must also
be an awareness that it will be possible to safeguard and promote human dignity only if this is done as a
community, by the whole of humanity.
Only through the mutual action of individuals and peoples sincerely concerned for the good of all men and
women can a genuine universal brotherhood be attained otherwise, the persistence of conditions of serious
disparity and inequality will make us all poorer.
146. “Male” and “female” differentiate two individuals of equal
dignity, which does not however reflect a static equality, because the
specificity of the female is different from the specificity of the male,
and this difference in equality is enriching and indispensable for the
harmony of life in society: “
The condition that will assure the rightful presence of woman in the
Church and in society is a more penetrating and accurate consideration
of the anthropological foundation for masculinity and femininity with
the intent of clarifying woman's personal identity in relation to man,
that is, a diversity yet mutual complementarily, not only as it concerns
roles to be held and functions to be performed, but also, and more
deeply, as it concerns her make-up and meaning as a person”
147. Woman is the complement of man, as man is the complement
of woman: man and woman complete each other mutually, not only
from a physical and psychological point of view, but also
ontologically. It is only because of the duality of “male” and
“female” that the “human” being becomes a full reality. It is the
“unity of the two”[288], or in other words a relational “uni-
duality”, that allows each person to experience the interpersonal
and reciprocal relationship as a gift that at the same time is a
mission: “to this ‘unity of the two' God has entrusted not only the
work of procreation and family life, but the creation of history
itself”[289]. “The woman is ‘a helper' for the man, just as the man
is ‘a helper' for the woman!”[290]: in the encounter of man and
woman a unitary conception of the human person is brought about,
based not on the logic of self-centredness and self-affirmation, but
on that of love and solidarity.
The rights of persons with disabilities need to be
promoted with effective and appropriate measures:
148. Persons with disabilities are fully “It would be radically unworthy of man, and a denial of
human subjects, with rights and duties: our common humanity, to admit to the life of the
“in spite of the limitations and sufferings community, and thus admit to work, only those who
are fully functional. To do so would be to practise a
affecting their bodies and faculties, they
serious form of discrimination, that of the strong
point up more clearly the dignity and and healthy against the weak and sick”[292]. Great
greatness of man”[291]. Since persons with attention must be paid not only to the physical and
disabilities are subjects with all their rights, psychological work conditions, to a just wage, to the
they are to be helped to participate in every possibility of promotion and the elimination of
dimension of family and social life at every obstacles, but also to the affective and sexual
level accessible to them and according to dimensions of persons with disabilities: “They too
need to love and to be loved, they need tenderness,
their possibilities.
closeness and intimacy”[293], according to their
capacities and with respect for the moral order,
which is the same for the non-handicapped and the
handicapped alike.
E. THE SOCIAL NATURE OF HUMAN BEINGS
149. The human person is essentially a social being [294] because God, who created humanity, willed it so[295]. Human nature, in
fact, reveals itself as a nature of a being who responds to his own needs.

“A society is a group of persons bound together organically by a principle of unity that goes beyond each one of them. As an
assembly that is at once visible and spiritual, a society endures through time: it gathers up the past and prepares for the
future”[296].

Social activity carries in itself a particular sign of man and of humanity that of a person at work within a community of persons:
this is the sign that determines man's interior traits and in a sense constitutes his very nature[297]. This relational characteristic
takes on, in the light of faith, a more profound and enduring meaning. Made in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26), and
made visible in the universe in order to live in society (cf. Gen 2:20,23) and exercise dominion over the earth (cf. Gen 1:26,28-
30), the human person is for this reason called from the very beginning to life in society: “God did not create man as a ‘solitary
being' but wished him to be a 'social being'. Social life therefore is not exterior to man: he can only grow and realize his vocation
in relation with others”[298].
150. The social nature of human beings does not automatically lead to communion among persons, to the gift of self. Because of
pride and selfishness, man discovers in himself the seeds of asocial behaviour, impulses leading him to close himself within his
own individuality and to dominate his neighbour[299].

The different human societies also must establish among themselves relationships of solidarity, communication and cooperation,
in the service of man and the common good[300].

151. The social nature of human beings is not uniform but is expressed in many different ways. In fact, the common good depends
on a healthy social pluralism. The different components of society are called to build a unified and harmonious whole, within
which it is possible for each element to preserve and develop its own characteristics and autonomy.

“To promote the participation of the greatest number in the life of a society, the creation of voluntary associations and
institutions must be encouraged ‘on both national and international levels, which relate to economic and social goals, to
cultural and recreational activities, to sport, to various professions, and to political affairs'. This ‘socialization' also expresses
the natural tendency for the sake of attaining objectives that exceed individual capacities. It develops the qualities of the
person, especially the sense of initiative and responsibility, and helps guarantee his rights”[301].
REPORTERS
JACOBA JESALVA
Paula Marie Mercie

LACERNA
Joriz

LARCE
Aizel Joy
LIWAG
Irizh Jhem