Msgr. Paul V. Garrity

Francisco De Vittoria was a Spanish 9 year old when Columbus arrived in the New World. He became a Dominican priest, theologian, and philosopher. The School of Salamanca, which he founded, laid the foundations for free-market economics and individual rights. He is most known for his defense of Native Americans against the predatory behavior of some of the early explorers.  Because of this work, he is called the Father of International Law.

The Native Americans that greeted the Spanish sailors in the early 16th century had different languages and customs from these European adventurers. These differences led some early explorers to brand New World inhabitants as savages and destined for slavery. De Vittoria and others objected to this characterization and defended their human dignity and autonomy. The foundation of international law is rooted in the need for all laws to respect human dignity as being self-evident, flowing from the Natural Law of Reason. 

Down through the ages, the pattern of treating certain groups of people as less than human or less deserving of respect has repeated itself over and over again. The enslavement of Black people in our American history is our most egregious example. The Irish who fled the potato famine in the 19th century endured great discrimination and disrespect in places like Boston and New York. The Italians, Poles, Germans, and East Europeans who followed experienced the same treatment. All of this was dwarfed, however, by the antisemitism of the Middle Ages that haunts Jewish people down to our present day. Human dignity is a non-negotiable that needs to be continually recognized, defended, and celebrated.

It is always in danger of being overlooked and marginalized when scarcity overwhelms generosity and fear overcomes reason. Selfishness, the hunger for power, and the absence of a moral compass can be like gasoline on the embers of discontent. Xenophobia happens when bad things are attributed to people from other countries and cultures. Imagined victimhood looks for scapegoats like the post-World War I Germans who thought exterminating Jews would solve their problems. Scapegoating new immigrants for rising unemployment, murders, and robberies in major cities is the latest affront to human dignity, both in the U.S. and in Western Europe.

Abraham Lincoln talked about the importance of getting in touch with the better angels of our nature. At a time when right-wing nationalism and America-first mantras are filling cyber space, Lincoln’s words have never been more appropriate. Getting in touch with these angels requires a willful decision to move away from the cacophonous chorus of negativism and mendacity that pollute the internet. Monetizing division and promoting anger are only the latest affronts to human dignity and hopes for domestic tranquility.

Compassion fatigue sets in when the avalanche of human suffering and the disorder of the world around us produces paralysis. It is hard to keep on having empathy for so many. It is easier to shut off the news and listen to jazz. It is easier to be like the ostrich that confronts danger by burying its head. Short-term escapism, however, is a drug that wears off while the cancer continues to spread. 

True compassion is a different thing. It springs from solidarity. Blacks, Browns, Latinos, Anglos, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and undocumented immigrants all are part of one human family. Acknowledging this should be easy. Allowing ourselves to experience this is another thing entirely.

On the threshold of a new year, resolutions are easy to make and even easier to forget. Resolving to become more compassionate can be a very different thing. It requires introspection, humility, and grace. Rome was not built in a day, and it takes trillions of sand grains to make a beach. Because Rome does exist, and the world is full of beaches, building a more compassionate world is possible. It is up to all of us to build this better world and to celebrate our better angels. The preservation of human dignity demands nothing less.

Msgr. Garrity is a former pastor of St. Mary’s Parish and School. He is a Senor Priest of the Archdiocese of Boston.