Right to live over the right to property
Right to Life over Right to Private Property Today more than ever, society is at the throes of so much secularism and consumerism. ... Gone are the age-old traditions that had fortified his person and his capacity to live an authentic and meaningful life. ... Practically speaking it has become an absolute reality, for to live outside the “market” is to “wither and die. ... Change…a world in constant flux epitomizes the world we live today. ... Invariably, among all the rights, the right to life precedes all other rights. It suffices to say then that because all of the rights sprung forth from the fundamental right to life, man’s right to life precedes his right to property. ... The Church Magisterium and the civil authority, by virtue of ethical considerations and sound principles, state and affirm one and the same assertion: Every individual has the right to life and it is so basic that no one has the right over it which explicates the reason why both the Church and the civil authorities advocate its value. The following excerpts from the different documents of high regard and authority could attest to the primacy of the right to life over all the other rights. Catechism of the Catholic Church 2273 “The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation: The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. ... Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being’s right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death. ... The Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines (Article II Section XI-XII) The state values the dignity of every human person and guarantees the respect for human rights… Evangelium Vitae Encyclical of Pope John Paul II Even in the midst of difficulties and uncertainties, every person sincerely open to truth and goodness can, by the light of reason and the hidden action of grace, come to recognize in the natural law written in the heart the sacred value of human life from its very beginning until its end, and can affirm the right of every human being to have this primary good respected to the highest degree. ... Graver Matter- life before material property Man has two primary duties: the duty of preserving his life and the duty of worshipping God…among individual rights, the right to life takes precedence over other rights (Fr. ... The Church, being the foremost mainstay, promoter and defender of life, doesn’t condemn nor reject the right to property, Rather it affirms its possibility but sets limitations to it for the reason that it is not an absolute right as to precede all other rights. ... The right to property, as with all other rights, has with them social dimensions like justice and charity, but they are nothing but virtues geared towards the protection and the promotion of life. And thus, the integrity and the ordination of human nature geared towards the common good affirm the proposition that the right to life heralds over the right to property. The following excerpts present the churches’ teaching as regards the right to property showing its social dimension. The right to private property CCC 2401 The Seventh Commandment forbids unjustly taking or keeping the goods of one’s neighbor and wronging him in any way with respect to his goods and the fruits of men’s labor. For the sake of the common good, it requires respect for the universal destination of goods and respect for the right to private property. ... CCC 2403 The right to private property, acquired by work or received from others by inheritance or gift, does not do away with the original gift from the earth to the whole mankind.