The life and dignity of the human race are one of the catholic social values. The church believes and acknowledges that God created man in his image. The church emphasizes that individuals can do nothing to attain or end their human dignity, for it is given by God and not earned. The religion believes that every life, be born or unborn is sacred and is not disposable. All catholic social teachings dictate that every individual has inherent dignity and must be respected (“Life and dignity of the human person”, 2017). This paper focuses on examining the impact of catholic social teachings on life, the human race’s dignity, workers’ well-being, patients’ rights, and nurses’ responsibilities, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The catholic church has established a service branch known as Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The organization is an international humanitarian agency committed to the suffering and the poor in more than a hundred countries without discriminating nationalities, religions, or even races. The organization was instituted in 1943 and has reached more than eighty-five million needy families every year by providing innovative solutions to hunger, poverty, diseases, drought, and emergencies (“Life and dignity of the human person”, 2017). CRS works closely with Catholic churches worldwide and with organizations that share their commitment and dreams in attending to the needs of the poor and empowering communities.
In many countries, particularly developing countries, workers are subjected to poor working conditions. This poor environment places workers at risk of contracting diseases or even getting injured, and in most cases, they do not get compensated. Employees are also paid little salaries that make it difficult for them to entirely fend for their families leave alone take care of their medical expenses. The Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS), which the catholic church is part of, ensures that workers’ rights are explicitly upheld during the pandemic. The CBIS is engaging in swift actions on various fronts to stem the adverse effects of the pandemic (“The dignity of work at risk | Catholic responsible investments progress report”, 2020). The organization is installing a sequence of interrelated strategies that are aimed at conserving the dignity of work. The CBIS focus on their active ownership initiative has shifted to addressing the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Harassment and violence at workplaces are evident around the globe, from politicians such as heads of states facing death threats to volunteers and apprentices being subjected to verbal abuse and humiliating handling. Firm workers are subjected to sexual harassment to keep their jobs, and street vendors face aggravation from the police (Human Rights Watch, 2020). Journalists are intimidated for publishing their reports, and civil society activists are attacked. Employees across all sectors can be subjected to psychological, sexual, economic, and physical harm. This type of harassment tends to compromise the safety and dignity of work.
Patients in hospitals placed in isolation due to medical reasons such as Covid-19 are prone to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and anger. These conditions arise because health workers do not tend to spend quality time with these patients. According to Chochinov, Bolton, and Sareen (2020), loneliness is a significant risk of mental disorders such as chronic distress, adjustment disorder, depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Symptom distress, the feeling of not being valued, and lack of social support undermine a patients’ dignity at the verge of dying. Patients who are avoided or isolated are vulnerable to inclining to the feeling that they are contagious. Families barred from visiting their relatives that have contracted the covid virus are denied the opportunity to advocate for ideal health care services and are often required to forgo final goodbyes to their loved ones (Chochinov et al., 2020). Not having access to a dying relative puts families at the risk of suffering from complicated grief.
The pandemic has resulted in the rights of covid patients being suppressed. The patients are forced to stay in a concentrated place where they risk contracting other diseases. Human rights are vital in the process of shaping a response to the pandemic for both public health concerns and the pandemic impact on individuals’ livelihoods and lives (United Nations, 2020). Responses influenced by human rights result in better outcomes in handling the pandemic, safeguarding healthcare for everybody, and thus preserving human dignity.
The pandemic has forced health care workers to engage in impoverished care. The situation requires caring for patients to be weighed against responsibility for self-protection and protecting one’s family. Nurses and physicians recruited with no prior experience in handling infectious diseases to take care of covid patients. These medical officials have been reported to suffer from exhaustion from excessive work, fear of contracting the virus and infecting others, and thus feeling powerless when handling covid victims (Chochinov et al., 2020). The contagion has seen health care officials confronting multiple simultaneous deaths, helplessness, burnout, and moral distress. The pandemic has also increased healthcare workers’ responsibility of taking care of more patients than they can handle.
The Catholic social teachings have been at the forefront in upholding the life and dignity of people. In conjunction with other organizations, the church has advocated for human dignity by condemning injustices that patients and workers face. The church places empathize with the creation of the human race based on the image and likeness of God. It indicates that every life is sacred and should be protected at all costs, which is the main reason for its advocacy for human rights.
References
Chochinov, H., Bolton, J., & Sareen, J. (2020). Death, dying, and dignity in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 23(10), 1294-1295. Web.
Human Rights Watch. (2020). Safety and dignity at work. Hrw.org. Web.
Life and dignity of the human person. CRS. (2017). Web.
The dignity of work at risk | Catholic responsible investments progress report. Cbisonline.com. (2020). Web.
United Nations. (2020). We are all in this together: Human rights and COVID-19 response and recovery | United Nations. United Nations. Web.