8.169. Didn’t Pope John Paul II say that a commitment to human rights is more important than dogma? Isn’t that just emphasizing love over rigidity?
Yes, in an April 1982 address to the Portuguese Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, John Paul II stated:
“A commitment to human rights must be more important than a commitment to dogma.”
This is one of the most scandalous and revealing statements of the Vatican II era. While it may sound like a call for compassion or social justice, it is in fact an expression of modernist heresy—one that places human ideology above divine revelation, and earthly values above the supernatural truths of the Faith.
The Catholic Church teaches that dogma is the infallible articulation of revealed truth—truth given by God Himself. To say that human rights (which vary by culture, ideology, and political regime) are more important than divine dogma is to blasphemously exalt man over God, and to reduce the Church to a humanitarian organization rather than the Ark of Salvation.
This kind of thinking is rooted in Vatican II’s human-centered theology, especially in Gaudium et Spes, which speaks of the Church’s mission in terms of “human dignity” and “the signs of the times,” rather than fidelity to Christ and His teachings.
True charity does not ignore dogma. True justice does not oppose doctrine. All authentic rights are rooted in truth—and truth is defined by God, not by popular consensus.
| Category | Traditional Catholic Teaching | John Paul II / Vatican II Mentality | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authority of Dogma | Divinely revealed, infallible, eternal truth | Secondary to human experience and cultural rights | Places mutable human norms above divine revelation |
| Human Rights | Must be judged in light of divine law and natural law | Accepted uncritically, even when in conflict with doctrine | Modern “rights” include abortion, same-sex unions, etc. |
| Church's Mission | To save souls and defend revealed truth | To promote peace, rights, and dialogue | This turns the Church into a political NGO |
| Charity and Justice | Rooted in truth and ordered to salvation | Redefined as affirming human dignity and diversity | True love does not compromise the Faith |
| Fruits | Martyrdom, fidelity, moral clarity | Doctrinal relativism, moral ambiguity, syncretism | “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:16) |
Summary:
John Paul II’s claim that “a commitment to human rights must be more important than a commitment to dogma” is not Catholic—it is modernist, naturalist, and apostate. It reflects a Vatican II Church that has abandoned the primacy of divine truth in favor of political relevance and human-centered ethics.
No right that opposes dogma is a right at all. If “human rights” include freedom of religion, sexual immorality, or rebellion against the divine order, then the Church must oppose them—not accommodate them.
As Pope Leo XIII taught:
“Rights are not founded on the will of the people but on the nature of truth and justice as ordained by God.”
To protect souls, we must cling to Catholic dogma—the unchanging truth by which all other claims must be judged.
Further reading:
Libertas Praestantissimum (On the Nature of Human Liberty) by Pope Leo XIII (1888)