How much is a person worth?

1 • “A-class” and “B-class” people

I know many Christians who have been deeply touched by the tragedy of the death of migrants, who – fleeing the dramatic situations in their home countries – have tried to cross the Mediterranean aboard makeshift means…

…Christians mortified by this carnage, who have rolled up their sleeves to prevent Europe from “turning the other way” (each according to their capabilities – some by raising awareness on the issue, others by offering physical help).

In an increasingly selfish world, these people have all my respect.

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I also know many Christians sincerely troubled by the real social scourge that is abortion…

…especially as – alongside its spreading like wildfire – an eugenic mentality is increasingly being embraced, aiming to make various categories of “undesirables” (individuals with Down syndrome or others) disappear from our affluent bourgeois society.

In an increasingly hedonistic world, I also hold great respect and admiration for them.

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On more than one occasion, however, I have come across scenarios that have left me a bit bewildered…

• Christians capable of “tearing their garments,” outraged by the tragedies in the Mediterranean… but who did not bat an eye at the barbaric deaths of Alfie Evans or Vincent Lambert, dismissing the two cases with a shrug…
• or, on the contrary, Christians who have become “crusaders” for the right to life in the wombs of many young women… but are untouched by the drama of poverty in our society…

…Just another example of…

What makes the life of a migrant more important than that of a fetus?

Or conversely, what makes the fight to defend the rights of some (whether embryos, the elderly, or terminally ill patients) more urgent than others (foreign refugees, poor Italians, homeless individuals from any background)?

Which individuals are worth more?

2 • What is a “person”?

Often we hear:

• …every person is unique…
• …the life of every person is irreplaceable…
• …Italians or foreigners, rich or poor, we are all individuals entitled to rights…
• …a disease or disability does not make a person‘s life less worthy…
• …even a fetus is a person…

…but what is a person? Indeed, who is a person?

Already in Roman law (which I haven’t studied, mind you… but I can still do a Google search), it was said that a person is “sui iuris” – meaning that they are “master of themselves,” “inalienable,” cannot be “used as a means,” is “a good in itself”…

If we enter the Christian context, the third chapter of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (of which I have mentioned something here…) is entirely dedicated to the theme of the dignity of the human person.

I quote a few lines:

Being a “person” means carrying a value, being a “good thing” in itself (regardless of what one does or all actions – bad or good – performed in the past).

Every person is, in fact, an “image of God” and “capable of God,” that is, they can be a presence of God in the world, as Christ was.

This potentiality always exists.

Behind every man – even the worst of sinners – God sees an infinite potential for good and holiness (a statement that might raise eyebrows for some… except then, remembering that the two pillars on which the Church rests are Peter and Paul – an apostate and a murderer – explicitly chosen by Jesus as “cornerstones”).

Also, from the S.C.D.:

3 • How much of a “person” are you on a scale from 0 to 10?

Perhaps the phrases from the C.S.D. I cited in the previous paragraph may seem a bit lofty or distant from everyday life…

…there is a problem, though…

…when those seemingly abstract phrases are set aside, people begin to assign different values to lives.

And the criteria based on which this ranking is done are entirely arbitrary:

• income
• health
• skin color
• age
• mental abilities
• gender
• being inside or outside a womb
• media visibility

When these I are used to determine whether (and to what extent) a person is “worthy” (of attention, respect, life), inevitable consequences arise:

• injustices
• suffering
• death

If we lose sight of the inalienable value that every person has as such, we inevitably end up dropping many barriers, beyond which we start asking ourselves very dangerous questions:

• “What’s the point of taking care of my parents who are old and sick? Better to use my energies more efficiently…”
• “Why bring a child with Down syndrome into the world? Am I not risking bringing “an unhappy person” into the world?”
• “Why take care of the poor? They’re not useful to the state, giving them food is a waste of money…”
• “What’s the purpose of taking care of a terminally ill patient if they’re not conscious? What do I gain? Zero gratifications…”

If the criterion by which we measure others (citizen or foreigners, born or unborn, healthy or sick, young or old) is “utility,” “efficiency,” “social cost,” or “emotionality”… what can contain this reasoning?

For those of you who love cinema, I suggest watching the film Gattaca – The Door to the Universe (a 1997 movie by Andrew Niccol… here you can watch the first minutes of the film, which are more than enough to spark your curiosity to keep watching).

4 •The Church and the respect for the human person (whether they are poor, an embryo, a migrant, or a terminally ill person)

During the Second Vatican Council in 1965, a document on the relationship between the Church and the contemporary world was published.

Point 27 of this document is dedicated to the respect for the human person (it’s a bit long, but I believe it deserves to be read in its entirety):

On these issues, the Church has always been very vigilant throughout the centuries, giving voice to the “last.”

Unfortunately, one of the greatest plagues afflicting Christianity (and not only Christianity) is recurrent illiteracy, or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it galloping Alzheimer’s: there are people convinced that these issues have become part of the Church’s Magisterium only since Pope Francis.

Just to give an example, in Laudato Si’, Pope Francis mentioned Benedict XVI 16 times and John Paul II 17 times. Let me extract a sentence as an example:

Conclusion

Father Andrea Santoro, the Roman priest who died a martyr in Turkey in 2006, used to say:

Echoing this sentiment, Roy Campbell (1901-1957), a South African poet and satirical writer, wrote in 1952:

A bit caustic?

Perhaps…

…but I believe it hit the mark: caring for others is possible only when put into practice from the bottom up (and even better, if done with humility and in silence, away from the spotlight of selfsatisfaction and Instagram selfies); without the foundation, the rest is just abstraction and feelings of generalized indignation…

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(Spring 2021)