Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 93 No. 4, 2023.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.53745/bs.93.4.7
The Meaning of Disability in the Pontificate of Pope John Paul II
Martina Vuk Grgić
orcid.org/0000-0001-6829-3864
; Catholic University of Croatia, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
During his long pontificate and as part of his encyclical letters, speeches and messages, Pope John Paul II demonstrated a great interest in and compassion for human disability and the suffering of the man. This is evidenced by the fact that he had established the International Day of the Sick in 1992, followed by the Jubilee Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December 2000. Through his theological and ethical thought and his pontificate, he primarily showed and promoted the importance of and respect for the metaphysical nature of the human person and his/her dignity – irrespective of a persons´ situation in life or his/her mental capacity. According to him, each human being is a person created in the image of God, which includes people with a disability. Therefore, he expressed great concerns for the preservation of human dignity within social and cultural structures. The purpose of this article is to highlight the Pope’s commitment to the notion of disability, as well as people with a disability during his pontificate, and to explore what distinguishes and differs such an approach from the contemporary conceptions of disability in terms of models of disability and the current knowledge on the subject. We are guided by an analysis of his exhortations, homilies and messages addressing his concerns for people with a disability and implicitly briefly look at his encyclicals and apostolic letters such as Evangelium vitae, Salvifici doloris and Redemptor hominis, in which he advocated for the care and respect for the dignity and integrity of each and every person including the value of human suffering.
Keywords
Pope John Paul II; disability; suffering; human person; solidarity.
Hrčak ID:
313223
URI
Publication date:
11.1.2024.
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