The principle of the dignity of the human person reminds us that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God and has an inalienable and transcendent human dignity which gives rise to human rights. It is the bedrock of all Catholic social ethics. It follows that people are always more important than things. People must never be treated as a means or an instrument to be used for the benefit of another. Every human person is equal in dignity and rights. Every human community, every race and culture is equal in dignity and rights. The human family is one because we are all children of the one God. This aspect of human dignity is sometimes referred to as the principle of the unity of the human family.

The Catechism explains it this way:
“Created in the image and likeness of the one God and equally endowed with rational souls, all persons have the same nature and the same origin. Redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the same divine beatitude: all therefore enjoy an equal dignity.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church, n 1934