Every person is created in the image of God and redeemed by Jesus Christ. Consequently, every person is worthy of respect simply by virtue of being a human being. Pope Francis’ criticism of the new economic culture is an intense wish for human dignity and love for humanity. He expresses concern for the poor and the marginalized. He openly attacks the cult of consumerism and its worship of mammon by ignoring human dignity.[1] All documents of Pope Francis especially Evangeli Gaudium invites the whole church for a revolution. It aims at emancipating human beings from social cultural and economic bondages. Revolution is not restoration but upgrading according to the need of the hour.  It should produce a sense of human dignity and a transformed mentality in the marginalized sections of the society.^[2]

There are no fundamentally different types of human beings. This realization is the basis for rejection of all forms of racism. There is something more. God enters into human life by breathing into his nostrils during creation (Gen: 2:7) “This means that every man is directly related to God: He is known, loved and willed by God.”[3] This Christian teaching gives the deepest reasons for our commitment to defending human dignity.[4]

Benedict XVI too had pointed out that the deepest reason for the inviolability of human dignity is in the fact that human being is created in the image of God and is capable of having a relationship with him.[5] Summarizing the views of Benedict XVI, Joseph Murphy says:

When man is no longer perceived in this way, then he comes to be seen in a merely utilitarian fashion and his dignity is at serious risk of being trampled upon by the resulting barbarity. This is the danger of our modern technological age. When reason is limited to what can be corroborated by experiment or computation, the ethical and the sacred no longer count for anything. When this happens anything that is scientifically possible appears legitimate and the individual is in serious danger of being crushed.[6]

The role of theologian is to understand the elements that are against human dignity and welfare of all. Globalization poses a threat for a matured understanding of human dignity in many ways. However, Christian theology needs to humanize globalization and not to reject it.[7] Our faith should lead us to the truth that man is not the creator but a creature made in the image of God and he is dependent on him and destined to share eternal life with him is vital to protect human dignity.  “God’s love transforms dependence into freedom: we may freely choose to accept it as the foundation for authentic human existence or reject it, thereby destroying ourselves.”[8]

1. Babu Joseph Kalathil, The Joy of Believing: The Vision and Relevance of Luman Fidei And Evangeli Gaudium in Indian Context (Hamburg: Anchor Academic Publishing, 2015),100
2. Ibid, 91.
3. Joseph Murphy, Christ Our Joy: The Theological Vision of Pope Benedict XVI (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2008) 108
4. Laudato Si, 65
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid,109.
7. Ibid, 92
8. Ibid.