Dear Friends,
In this new series of our conversation, we are considering the life and ministry of the new Pontiff of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching. The Church’s social teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society. This beautiful teaching has been articulated and transmitted through a tradition of Papal, Conciliar, and episcopal documents highlighted in our previous conversation. The depth and richness of this tradition are best understood by a direct reading of these documents. At present, Pope Leo XIV has not yet written any encyclical, but the fact that he took the name Leo XIV to honor Pope Leo XIII, particularly for his focus on social justice and workers’ rights, as seen in the famous 1891 social encyclical Rerum Novarum is quite revealing and genuinely reassuring. In his address to the College of Cardinals on May 10, 2025, the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, explained that he had “different reasons” for choosing the name, but that he was mainly inspired by Pope Leo XIII, who spent much of his papacy advocating for the rights of workers during the first industrial revolution.
In Rerum Novarum (On the New Things), we come to understand that the theme of human dignity is the cornerstone of the rights of the individual from the moment of conception to natural death. Pope Leo XIII emphasized that the dignity of the human person is not earned but inherent, and it forms the foundation for just social structures. To speak of human dignity is to place God at the center of every authentic human project. The truth that God exists and that in Him, we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:28), makes it possible to accept that every individual person is a subject of rights, freedom, and dignity. The Scripture teaches us that every human being is an imago Dei- a creature made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26). Pope Leo XIV affirms the truth that there is no philosophy, religion, social theory, or ideology that has ever proposed a more thorough affirmation of the human being than the Sacred Scripture. The way the Bible speaks about and portrays the dignity of the human person is unmatched by ancient programs of perfectibility, Renaissance humanism, modern progressivism, Marxist classless society, or today’s culture of self-creation and relativism. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we read, “Every person, from the first moment of his or her life in the womb, has an inviolable dignity, because from all eternity God willed, loved, created, and redeemed that person and destined him or her for eternal happiness” (CCC, 1699-1715).
During the Inaugural Mass for his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV made a clear call for respect for human dignity when he referenced St. Augustine’s opening words in the Confessions, “You made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” According to the Holy Father, all human beings possess a restless heart, which signifies that we were created with a fundamental desire for God, one that can only be fulfilled by finding rest in Him. True peace in the world can only be achieved when we turn back to God, loving Him and loving our neighbors. Among my people, the Igbo of Nigeria, it is believed that human beings carry a beautiful simulacrum of the Divine. This is the reason why the human person is called Mmadu, which translates to “the beauty of life,” “the goodness of life,” and the “truth of being human.” In this perspective, the concept of the human person embodies the three transcendentals of the “beauty” (via Pulchrudentis), the “good” (via Bonita), and the “truth” (via Veritas). Every human life is precious because it originates from the Supreme Being, Chukwu. Life is unique because every person has a personal Chi, which signifies individualization and autonomy. When a baby is born, we joyfully welcome him or her. In childhood, life is protected and nurtured by parents and relatives. In the teenage age and young adult years, life is highly valued as the community accompanies individuals through initiation rites, ensuring a future for the community. As a person ages and health declines, the community supports them through care and comfort. The Igbo people celebrate and honor life deeply. Names such as Chinwendu (life belongs to God), Chikere (God creates), Chiwetara (God gives) Chinenyendu (God gives life), Chinedu (God guides), Onyinyechi (God’s gift), and Eberechukwu (God’s mercy), are given to children at baptism as expressions of faith, hope, and charity.
To understand what true dignity entails, it is pertinent to realize that your life is a gift, we did nothing to deserve or earn it. Our only response is to gratefully receive this gift. God loves us more than we love ourselves and desires more for us than we can imagine. His plans for us are greater than our own: “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11). Our dignity as individuals can only be manifested and nurtured when we are in communion with Him whose love endures forever (Psalm 118:1). It is important that we accept ourselves as we are. In us, the Lord is at work (John 5:17). Embracing the truth that we are children of our Heavenly Father, called to be in union with Him and one another, leads to a deeper appreciation of humanity and our dependence on God and each other. As St. Pope John Paul II emphasized in Sollicitudo Rei Socialis nos 35-40, our dignity is rooted in this relationship. On this note, I recall the story of the good Pope St. John XXIII, who, every night after the reciting the Compline (night prayers), would say: “My God, here is your Church, your servant John is going to bed, care for your Church. If I wake up, I will continue to take care of it for you.” He did not refer to himself as “Your servant Pope John XXIII,” but simply as ‘John’ without titles or protocols. This humility reminds us that our true dignity does not come from titles, careers, or achievement, but from who we are in the sight of God. When we accept our unique and beautiful identity, we are free to be positive influences on those around us. The same lesson is seen in Pope Leo XIV’s papacy as he emphasizes solidarity with others and love for all brothers and sisters in our most challenging and troubled world of today.
Ad majorem Dei gloriam
Rev. Benedict Nwachukwu-Udaku is the Director of Academic Formation St. Junipero Serra House of Formation in the Diocese of San Bernardino