Typology of Catholic Christianity's Theological Interpretations of the Compatibility or Incompatibility of the Catholic Religion with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Religions, Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute, Qom, Iran

Abstract

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations in 1948, in 30 articles, claiming respect for human dignity, freedom, and human rights. In this declaration, topics such as personal, civil, political, economic, social, and cultural human rights are emphasized. This paper aims to examine the views of the Catholic Church on human rights, considering the problems of human rights that are raised in comparison with Islamic views. In Catholic Christianity, there were three theological interpretations of human rights issues. In these types of interpretations, some believe that the issues of human rights and Christianity are compatible with each other and have a close relationship, which is guaranteed by the principles of the Bible. Others, taking a position against the secularists, believe that the foundations of human rights are necessarily theological and rooted in the Bible. The third group, on the contrary, insists on the incompatibility between Christian theology and human rights. Using a descriptive-analytical approach and qualitative content analysis method, this article introduces the topic of human rights and expresses different types of Catholic interpretations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In addition, it considers the third point of view, which expresses the incompatibility between Christian theology and human rights, to be more consistent with the theological foundations of Catholic Christianity. The article rejects the evidence of the first two views and provides evidence for the third one and concludes that the nature of Christian teachings and dogma is incompatible with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, therefore, the claim of compatibility is more political

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References

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