Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 435.

YOUCAT Question n. 435 - Is it permissible to “buy” and “sell” human beings?

(Youcat answer) No human being, not even parts of a human being, may be turned into commodities, nor may a person make himself a commodity. Man belongs to God and has been endowed by him with freedom and dignity. Buying and selling people, as is common practice nowadays, and not only in prostitution, is a profoundly reprehensible act.   

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 2414) The seventh commandment forbids acts or enterprises that for any reason - selfish or ideological, commercial, or totalitarian - lead to the enslavement of human beings, to their being bought, sold and exchanged like merchandise, in disregard for their personal dignity. It is a sin against the dignity of persons and their fundamental rights to reduce them by violence to their productive value or to a source of profit. St. Paul directed a Christian master to treat his Christian slave "no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother,… Both in the flesh and in the Lord" (Philem 16).      

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Trafficking in organs for transplantation and in embryos for the biotech industry or in children for purposes of adoption, the recruiting of child soldiers, prostitution - the age-old injustice of trafficking in human beings and slavery is reappearing everywhere. People are deprived of their freedom, their dignity, and their right of self-determination, even of their lives. Others reduce them to objects with which their owner can make a profit. Human trafficking in the strict sense should be distinguished from dealings between sports teams. Here, too, there is talk about “buying” and “selling” players, but of course these are transactions that presuppose the athletes’ free consent.

 (CCC Comment)

(CCC 2297) Kidnapping and hostage taking bring on a reign of terror; by means of threats they subject their victims to intolerable pressures. They are morally wrong. Terrorism threatens, wounds, and kills indiscriminately; it is gravely against justice and charity. Torture which uses physical or moral violence to extract confessions, punish the guilty, frighten opponents, or satisfy hatred is contrary to respect for the person and for human dignity. Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reasons, directly intended amputations, mutilations, and sterilizations performed on innocent persons are against the moral law (Cf. DS 3722).   

(The next question is: How should we treat the environment?)