Human Rights in a Divided World: Catholicism as a Living Tradition

An astute case for Catholic engagement with human rights for all

Human rights should protect the dignity and well-being of all people. But in today’s deeply divided world, some argue that cultural differences and economic inequality undermine their universality.

In Human Rights in a Divided World, David Hollenbach offers a comprehensive and cohesive analysis of the challenges to human rights, suggesting that today’s global realities call for important developments rooted in Catholic ethics. This work of theological social ethics draws on a range of disciplines to address the question of whether or not human rights remain valid as universal standards for action in a multicultural, religiously pluralistic, and economically unequal world. Hollenbach provides a compelling account of the contribution that Catholic ethics and practice make to an unequal world. He applies the proposed understanding of human rights to several issues that are much debated today, including religious freedom, the rights of refugees and other forced migrants, economic rights in the face of significant inequality, and the rights of women.

Human Rights in a Divided World offers a clear path forward for the church in its engagement with politics and guidance for students of human rights as well as those working to advance them.

David Hollenbach, SJ, is the Pedro Arrupe Distinguished Research Professor at the Walsh School of Foreign Service, a senior fellow of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and an affiliated professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Georgetown University. He is the author of several books, including The Global Face of Public Faith (GUP, 2004) and Humanity in Crisis (GUP, 2019).