Pope Leo XIV called, at the weekly public audience of September 9, 2026, for respect for human dignity, criticizing the commodification of the body and relationships between people. The pontiff argued that reducing the body to an object that can be disposed of arbitrarily always represents a denial of the dignity of the person, underscoring that the human being is a unified being, composed of body and soul, and that dualistic views must be overcome.
In St. Peter's Square, the Pope continued the cycle of reflections on the Constitution "Gaudium et spes" of the Second Vatican Council, warning that the journey in defense of the rights of each person still needs to face "the contradictions, old and new, that prevent its full implementation." Leo XIV recalled, citing his recent encyclical "Magnifica Humanitas," that dignity does not depend on the capacities, wealth, function, or right or wrong choices of each person, being entrusted to individual responsibility and requiring solidarity and mutual care.
The Pope stated that being
