Imago Dei

VII. Catholic Heritage of DEI (by A.J. Hoy and Roy Lanham)

The Catholic tradition professes a God who is a unity of diverse persons, a communal economy of love and relationality. We call this God “Trinity.” Comprised of three inseparable, yet distinguishable persons, the Holy Trinity, our God, acts and moves in time and yet exists before, beyond, and above time as well. This mystery is the foundation of our being—all of creation bears the mark of the triune God.

Foundational to our faith is the knowledge that each person is made in the image and likeness of the Trinitarian God who breathed life into our mortal frames. We conceptualize this statement of faith as the Imago Dei. In our firm belief that every person is an image of God, we also profess the inherit dignity (worth) of every human being, regardless of stage of life, race, ethnicity, sex, gender, place of origin, socioeconomic status, or religious belief and values.

The God who created the multiplicity of peoples, diverse yet related, calls us to recognize the diversity of expression, practice, and governance. Answering the call of St. John XXIII who called on the church to throw open the windows of the church, we seek to foster a catholic environment where the Spirit of God dwells and where all might find safety and refuge, acceptance and belonging.

This belonging is deeply immersed in the revelation that our identity and vocation finds fulfillment in “creating a network of multiple relationships of love, justice, and solidarity with other persons . . .” (Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §35). These relationships are based on the understanding that all of us are sojourners, and the offer of salvation is for all people. The commandment to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind and spirit is linked intimately by our Lord to love of our neighbor as ourselves. The invitation to see all as one in him as he is one in the Father.

Jesus himself is the model for living deeply the gospel to embrace one another as sons and daughters of God. Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium invites us to “contemplate the closeness which he (Jesus) shows to everyone! If he speaks to someone, he looks into his eyes with deep love and concern: ‘Jesus, looking upon him, loved him (Mark 10:21) . . . Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, is nothing else than the culmination of the way he lived his entire life.” (EG, §269). It is the way we are to be as witnesses to the faith handed on to us via the apostles and their successors.

The Church invites us to walk this path of holiness. “All the faithful of Christ . . . are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity” (Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, §40). The most fundamental aspect of this is to walk in the footsteps of our Lord and to be molded in his image. This opens us to embrace his commandment to love one another.  This is not an option given to us among many, but rather a singular call to see our lives as a reflection of the divine love of the Trinity. Hence, no one is seen as less than the other. All are seen as graced by God, unique and unrepeatable. It is our duty to lift up the dignity of each person and to invite them to see themselves as the Imago Dei.

From Our Tradition:

“The world exists for everyone, because all of us were born with the same dignity. Differences of color, religion, talent, place of birth or residence, and so many others, cannot be used to justify the privileges of some over the rights of all. As a community, we have an obligation to ensure that every person lives with dignity and has sufficient opportunities for is or her integral development.” (Pope Francis, On Fraternity and Social Friendship [Fratelli Tutti], §118)

“The dignity of others is to be respected in all circumstances, not because that dignity is something we have invented or imagined, but because human beings possess an intrinsic worth superior to that of material objects and contingent situations. This requires that they be treated differently. That every human being possesses an inalienable dignity is a truth that corresponds to human nature apart from all cultural change. For this reason, human beings have the same inviolable dignity in every age of history, and no one can consider himself or herself authorized by particular situations to deny this conviction or to act against it.” (Pope Francis, On Fraternity and Social Friendship [Fratelli Tutti], §213)

“Our defense of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development. Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection. We cannot uphold an ideal of holiness that would ignore injustice in a world where some revel, spend with abandon and live only for the latest consumer goods, even as others look on from afar, living their entire lives in abject poverty.” (Pope Francis, Rejoice and Be Glad [Gaudete et Exsultate], §101)

“When we fail to acknowledge as part of reality the worth of a poor person, a human embryo, a person with disabilities – to offer just a few examples – it becomes difficult to hear the cry of nature itself; everything is connected.” (Pope Francis, On Care for Our Common Home [Laudato Si’], §117)

“The dignity  of the individual and the demands of justice require, particularly today, that  economic choices do not cause disparities in wealth to increase in an excessive  and morally unacceptable manner.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Charity  in Truth [Caritas in Veritate], §32)

Human persons are willed by God; they are imprinted with God’s image. Their dignity does not come from the work they do, but from the persons they are. (See St. John Paul II, On the Hundredth Year [Centesimus annus], §11)

“The basis for all that the Church believes about the moral dimensions of economic life is its vision of the transcendent worth — the sacredness — of human beings. The dignity of the human person, realized in community with others, is the criterion against which all aspects of economic life must be measured.

All human beings, therefore, are ends to be served by the institutions that make up the economy, not means to be exploited for more narrowly defined goals. Human personhood must be respected with a reverence that is religious. When we deal with each other, we should do so with the sense of awe that arises in the presence of something holy and sacred. For that is what human beings are: we are created in the image of God (Gn 1:27).” (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice for All, §28)

“Every individual, precisely by reason of the mystery of  the Word of God who was made flesh (cf. Jn 1:14), is entrusted  to the maternal care of the Church. Therefore every threat to human dignity and  life must necessarily be felt in the Church’s very heart; it cannot but affect  her at the core of her faith in the Redemptive Incarnation of the Son of God,  and engage her in her mission of proclaiming the Gospel of life in all the  world and to every creature (cf. Mk 16:15).” (St. John Paul II, The  Gospel of Life [Evangelium vitae], §3)

“As explicitly formulated, the precept ‘You shall not kill’ is strongly negative: it indicates the extreme limit which can never be exceeded. Implicitly, however, it encourages a positive attitude of absolute respect for life; it leads to the promotion of life and to progress along the way of a love which gives, receives and serves.” (St. John Paul II, The Gospel of Life [Evangelium vitae], §54)

“There exist also sinful inequalities that affect millions of men and women. These are in open contradiction of the Gospel: ‘Their equal dignity as persons demands that we strive for fairer and more humane conditions. Excessive economic and social disparity between individuals and peoples of the one human race is a source of scandal and militates against social justice, equity, human dignity, as well as social and international peace’.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1938 citing Gaudium et Spes, §29)

“Whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where men are treated as mere tools for profit, rather than as free and responsible persons; all these things and others of their like are infamies indeed. They poison human society, but they do more harm to those who practice them than those who suffer from the injury.” (Second Vatican Council, The Church in the Modern World [Gaudium et Spes], §27)

Providence EAP for employees and family/roommates (includes student employees and roommates)

• Lyra:844-311-6223, available 24/7/365 Visit Lyra Health – self-care tools that will teach new skills based on proven behavioral health approaches.  Also includes – Mental Health Therapy, Mental Health Coaching, Guided Self-Care
• Behavioral Health Concierge
• Choose Well Mental Wellness Resources

Food stamps (SNAP and TANF), Women In Children in Need, Health Department, Housing Services, Energy Assistance, social support  – community-assistance-directory-8-14-24.pdf

Social Security – Great Falls Social Security Office, 2008 23rd St. S. Great Falls MT 59405

Suicide and Crisis Lifeline – call or text 988

My Neighbor in Need website. St. Vincent DePaul  site.

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Coming soon!

Please email A.J. Hoy at aj.hoy@uprovidence.edu.

Title IX – University of Providence

Student Concerns – University of Providence

Concerns related to harassment, discrimination, or workplace inequities – Melanie.houge@uprovidence.edu

Disability Services – University of Providence