Rights and Responsibilities

Catholics teach that human dignity can be protected and a healthy place can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are too. For that, every person has a right to life and a right to those things required for human life. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities--to each other, to our families, and to the world.

Every person has a right to life and has a part of life. Meaning that every human has the right to what is needed to live a full and good life, things like the employment, health care, and education required for a good life. The right to exercise religious freedom publicly and privately by individuals and institutions along with freedom of conscience need to be constantly defended. In a way, the right of free religious beliefs can protect all other rights.

The Church helps property and teaches that “every man has by nature the right to possess property as his own." The right to private property is not absolute, however, and is limited by the concept of the social mortgage. It is just for its members to destroy property used in a bad way by others, or for the state to sort out wealth for people who have unjustly hoarded it. Rights are duties and responsibilities to each other, our families, and to the church. Rights should be understood and used in a moral way made in dignity of each human person.
Dylan Williams