Oldal 32 [32]
1. INTRODUCTION
The establishment of the United Nations and the adoption of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights in 1948% were not only intended to prevent
the recurrence of the horrors of the Second World War but also aimed to
establish a foundation for evaluating systems, programs, and forms of
government based on the fundamental criterion of the good of the human
person. The human person, living in a community, is an essential component
of the common good, which must serve as the primary standard for all plans,
systems, and governments. This perspective aligns with the Church’s teaching®
that the common good is rooted in the dignity of the human person and the
responsible stewardship of creation.
In Bandi’s interpretation, the common good serves as a key link between
the protection of creation and human rights, with the state playing a central
role in both domains. The common good, as a foundational principle, must
be realized primarily through the state’s actions, regardless of the specific
aspect under consideration. Human dignity provides another fundamental
connection, as its scope continues to expand and evolve. While some aspects
of human dignity have long been addressed, others, such as environmental
protection, are still emerging as critical components of this evolving
framework.
In 1990, Pope John Paul II dedicated his World Day of Peace message to
the theme “Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All of Creation,”
emphasizing human rights and environmental protection. “The ecological
crisis reveals the urgent moral need for a new solidarity, especially in relations
between the developing nations and those that are highly industrialized.
States must increasingly share responsibility, in complimentary ways, for the
promotion of a natural and social environment that is both peaceful and
healthy. The newly industrialized States cannot, for example, be asked to
apply restrictive environmental standards to their emerging industries unless
the industrialized States first apply them within their own boundaries. At
the same time, countries in the process of industrialization are not morally
free to repeat the errors made in the past by others, and recklessly continue
to damage the environment through industrial pollutants, radical deforestation
or unlimited exploitation of non-renewable resources.”°”
% United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10 December 1948), https://www.
un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of- human-rights.
5 See, Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the
Modern World (7 December 1965), Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, §26, https://
www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_
gaudium-et-spes_en.html.
Bandi, Gyula: A teremtés védelme és az emberi jogok, In.: Acta Humana: Hungarian Centre
for Human Rights Publications 8, no. 4 (2020): 9-33, https://doi.org/10.32566/ah.2020.4.1.
67 Pope John Paul II, Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All of Creation (1 January 1990),
§10, https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/messages/peace/documents/hf_jp-ii_
mes_19891208_xxiii-world-day-for-peace.html.
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