“God created mankind in His image; in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” (Gen 1:27) 

 

It would be nearly impossible to understand Catholic social teaching (and Catholic moral teaching in general, for that matter) apart from seeing the significance of this line from Scripture. 

 

It’s the basis for so much of what the Church teaches, and from it we, as human beings, come to know not only our own incredible worth and value, but also the worth and value of every other human person. 

 

Although much has been written about “being made in the image and likeness of God,” it is necessary to revisit it briefly here since it plays such a significant role in Catholic social teaching. It is the fundamental connection between the two great Commandments of Jesus in the Gospels — love of God and love of neighbor (see Mt 22:36-40, et al). 

 

It is impossible to claim to love God if we hate, mistreat, dismiss or simply ignore those who are His image bearers. Doing so is inconsistent not only with any claim to love God, but also inconsistent with being an effective witness of the image we ourselves have been given a share in. 

 

Growing in our love for God will inevitably mean growing in genuine concern for those whom He loves — regardless of any other consideration. 

 

Being made in the “image and likeness of God” is the source of our dignity. It does not come from our abilities, nor our accomplishments, nor our possessions, nor anything else — not even from our autonomy as human beings. No. 

 

Catholics understand our ultimate value as coming from our sharing in the very image of the creator. Having been imprinted with God’s own image, there is nothing that can erase it — not even the evil actions we might commit. 

 

No sin, however grave, has the power to destroy the image of God in a human person. Because of this, the dignity that image carries with it is inextinguishable. This dignity is ours from the first moment that we exist, from the moment of our own personal conception. And it remains ours as long as we exist. 

 

In Catholic moral teachings on subjects like abortion and euthanasia we will often hear the “dignity of the human person” spoken of especially in reference to the quote from Genesis already mentioned. This is a huge part of the Church’s evaluation of acts like these. 

 

Any intentional attack on innocent human life involves a failure to recognize and respect that dignity every person has simply by virtue of their existence. But it is necessary to realize that the same understanding of our inestimable value must be applied to more than just individual moral issues, as important as those issues are. 

 

For us as Catholics, the dignity of the human person must be the guiding principle for all our dealings with others, including those who will be born in future generations. It must be the primary and most basic stance we take toward all people in our society, and indeed, in the world — even those we may disagree with or who seem so different from us. Regardless of any differences, they have been endowed with the same imprint and hence the same dignity that we have been given. 

 

This connects us far more profoundly than class, creed, country or color ever could. It is a connectedness which exists because we share the same origin and the same destiny.  

 

The more our fundamental connectedness is recognized and emphasized, the more just a society we are likely to construct. The more just a society is, the more room God’s Kingdom will have to exist, and the more readily obstacles to its flourishing will be removed. Hence, social teaching must begin with that which we all have in common, and nothing is as important as our shared dignity.