Prologue

You are about to begin the study of your wonderful dignity as a human person. Of all the topics you will investigate during your high school education, this is one of the most important - and exciting! In fact, this course will provide you with a foundation on which you will continue to grow, not only during these high school years but throughout your adult life.

Pope Saint John Paul the Great was a witness to the horrors of Nazism and Communism. He saw first-hand man's inhumane treatment of his fellowman. His response was to spend his life and his pontificate in defense of the worth and dignity of every human person. In his 1979 Apostolic Visit to our country, he told us:

"I come to the United States of America as Successor of Peter and as a pilgrim of faith. It gives me great joy to be able to make this visit. And so my esteem and affection go out to all the people of this land. I greet all Americans without distinction; I want to meet you and tell you all -men and women of all creeds and ethnic origins, children and youth, fathers and mothers, the sick and the elderly -that God loves you, that he has given you a dignity as human beings that is beyond compare.

I want to tell everyone that the Pope is your friend and a servant of your humanity."

With his gift to the Church of the Theology of the Body, Saint John Paul II1 deepened our understanding of the human person, bringing together the Church's traditional view of the person with new insights he had acquired in response to some of the problems we face in modern times.

Our study here will focus on that "traditional view" of the human person which serves as the basis for understanding not only Saint John Paul's teachings but also the teachings of the Catholic Church in general. This traditional view of the human person has been best expressed and explained by Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Doctorof the Church who lived in the 13th century. Saint John Paul was a stu-

Dignity - from the Latin dignitas, "worthiness," of high rank or worth.

Doctor of the Church -"Doctor" comes from the Latin docere, “to teach.” In order to be called a Doctor of the Church, a person must:

1. possess a high degree of sanctity;

2. be very learned; and, dent of the Thomist tradition: he studied at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome (commonly called the Angelicum), and he completed his final paper under the direction of one of the greatest Thomists of the 20th century, a Dominican priest named Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange.

3. be declared a Doctor by the Church.

While this title is given to certain people on account of the great advantage the Church has gained from their doctrine, it does not mean that the Church is saying this person's teaching is completely free of error. The persons most recently declared Doctors of the Church are St. Teresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

Thomist tradition - all that we have inherited from St. Thomas Aquinas' teaching in philosophy and theology. One who accepts Thomas' philosophical outlook is called a "Thomist."

Pontifical - the adjectival form of the word "Pontiff" (from the Latin pontem facere, “to build a bridge”). The title "Pontiff" or "Supreme Pontiff" is used in reference to the Pope, the person who is the chief "bridge-builder" on earth between God and man. A Pontifical University is one of eighteen universities and theological faculties in Rome affiliated with the Pope. These institutes of higher learning offer courses in philosophy, theology, Canon Law, and Church history.

Angelicum - from a title by which Saint Thomas Aquinas is often known: Angelic Doctor. Among the reasons given for this title are that St. Thomas wrote a great deal about angels, explaining their unique nature. Another reason for the title has to do with St. Thomas' personal life of virtue and holiness.

St. Thomas (1225-1274) was a brilliant and holy man whose contributions to the Church are vast and enduring. He was a renowned philosopher and a theologian, a Dominican priest and a scholar, but most of all he was a devout Christian who spent long hours in prayer and possessed an extraordinary love for the Eucharist.

St. Thomas' keen intellect drew on the wisdom of both his contemporaries and his instructors in university (St. Albert the Great was his mentor), as well as the saints who had come before him, notably St. Augustine of Hippo. His search for the truth drove him to explore even the contributions of the pre-Christian philosophers, among them Plato and Aristotle.

If you are unfamiliar with St. Thomas Aquinas, you might wonder how the writings of a Dominican preacher from the Middle Ages can matter to young people of the 21st century. For anyone who has studied St. Thomas, however, the answer to that question is clear:

St. Thomas believed that there is such a thing as "truth" and that the human person has the ability to come to know it.

St. Thomas believed that the truth we can come to know about the real world is the same for all of us because reality is the same for all of us.

"Truth is the light of the human intellect. If the intellect seeks, from youth onwards, to know reality in its different dimensions, it does so in order to possess the truth: in order to live the truth. Such is the structure of the human spirit. Hunger for truth is its fundamental aspiration and expression."

Saint John Paul II, Apostolic Letter to the Youth of the World

St. Thomas believed that what we know by faith and what we know by using our reason alone can never be in contradiction if the faith is true and our reasoning is correct.

St. Thomas believed that truth, at its source, is Jesus Christ.

For young people, who are especially interested in discovering the truth about themselves as human beings, St. Thomas Aquinas will be a superior teacher. For those who follow the lead of many in our modern society and think that truth is different for everyone, St. Thomas will be a formidable opponent. For those who question whether it is possible to be both a person who believes and a person who thinks, St.

Thomas will be a model. For those who want to know and love God better, St. Thomas will be a sure guide.

Today, more than ever, there is a need for the truth to be known, especially the truth about the dignity of the human person. We need the light of that truth to shine into the murky waters of moral confusion. Harsh and noisy voices in our society cry out proclaiming a woman's "so-called right" to destroy the life within her womb. They demand scientific experimentation that threatens human dignity. They demean human sexuality and marriage. They threaten the weakest and most vulnerable members of our human family. In these all-important battles of our day, victory will not go to the loudest; victory will always be on the side of Truth.

During his 26 years as the Vicar of Christ on this earth, Pope Saint John Paul the Great never ceased to highlight the immense value and dignity of every human being. He challenged us all to do our part in building a civilization of love. To the Youth of the World in 2002, he said the following:

“The aspiration that humanity nurtures, amid countless injustices and sufferings, is the hope of a new civilization marked by freedom and peace. But for such an undertaking, a new generation of builders is needed. Moved not by fear or violence but by the urgency of genuine love, they must learn to build, brick by brick, the city of God within the city of man. Allow me, dear young people, to consign this hope of mine to you: you must be those "builders!" You are the men and women of tomorrow. The future is in your hearts and in your hands. God is entrusting to you the task, at once difficult and uplifting, of working with him in the building of the civilization of love.”

Let us reflect on Saint John Paul’s challenging words and let them spur us on in our present study.