Pope receives delegation from Dignitatis Humanae Institute
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday received in audience a delegation from the
Dignitatis Humanae Institute (DHI) which is celebrating its fifth anniversary. The
DHI, otherwise known as the Institute for Human Dignity, was founded in 2008 as a
think tank with the aim of protecting and promoting an authentic vision of human dignity. Addressing
the delegates, the Pope warned against a “culture of waste” in which the victims are
the unborn, the poor, the elderly, and the disabled. Such a culture leads to a “practical
atheism”, he said, whereby man denies that he is made in God’s image and likeness. Rather,
he said, if we allow the Word of God to challenge us in our personal and social consciousness,
and “allow ourselves to question our ways of thinking and acting, policies, priorities
and choices, then things can change.” One of delegates present at the audience
was Alojz “Lojze” Peterle, a member of the European Parliament and former prime minister
of Slovenia. “If we wish to put man at the centre, then we should respect the dignity
of each human being,” he told Vatican Radio, noting how this was one of sentiments
of the founding fathers of the European Union. “We should reconsider,” he continued,
what “it means to respect human dignity, which is mentioned on the first charter of
fundamental human rights.” Listen to Ann Schneible’s full interview with
Alojz Peterle: