In the year 2000 we put down on paper the Charta of Human Duties and Responsibilities.

We remembered the idea of solidarity of the conscience, which generated in Gdansk two decades ago. Exactly this reflex of bearing responsibility for others was crucial for the power of the revolt. The effort of overcoming the momentary satisfaction by putting back the own personnel interests for the sake of solidarity benefits the interests of the weaker people. This overcoming marked the beginning of one of the biggest turns in modern European history. How would it have looked like, if the workers of the Gdansk shipyard would have gone home only with the promise of slightly better payments, which would have affected nobody but themselves?

With the distance of the first decade of freedom, 20 years after the revolt of the first independent trade union and 50 years after the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we have tried to draw conclusions for the future.

The Charta of Human Duties and Responsibilities was drawn up as an appeal to the conscience, as a moral impulse. For we have to be aware of the fact, that we do not only have certain rights, which we visualize more easily, but that it is also necessary to respect the rights of others. The duties, which we have towards the society, are always remembered later than those which concern the family. Maybe it is therefore essential to base all ethical codex and catalogues of human responsibilities on them.

Some years ago, on a theological congress in Cologne, I heard the first time about the idea to formulate such a document, which could play the role of a codex for human duties and responsibilities. The one-sided demanding attitude was discussed. With recognition was also mentioned the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, exclaimed half a century ago. It was noticed though, that on the threshold of the new millennium a step towards the sense of duty should be taken.

It is not enough to be aware of the rights one has, not even in the name of others. We should rather think about the obligations, which result from these rights. It is high time that the community of our planet codifies a fundamental catalogue of human duties and responsibilities. If we want to avoid, that in the course of the economic globalisation the right of the stronger will prevail, we should reach an agreement concerning the a global standard of ethical principles, which can be fulfilled by everyone, regardless of race, gender, religion or political conviction. That is how the postulate of theologians representing all continents reads. I admit that this has stimulated my imagination and has given an impulse for further researches.

In the internet I found numerous websites which deal with this topic. The German expression Menschenpflichten and the English, more descriptive one human duties and responsibilities proved to be the key to several scientific and economic conferences, to talks of statesmen, to initiatives of laureates of the Nobel Prize for Peace and finally to the worldwide dialogue between the religions. For in many places in the world the discussion about the design of a document, which would be set up parallel to the Declaration of Human Rights, is lead.

This does not spare a certain polemic. In the first place these performances offer little useful or sound facts. And then, when already fixed, they do not touch the personal well-being of anyone nor do they constitute any competition to the Human Rights.

The further chapters of the Charta of the Human Duties and Responsibilities are the subject of the annual debates taking place in Gdansk, the so called Gdansk Areopag. The Gdansk Areopag refers to the debating traditions of the old world in Athens as well as to the papal appeal to participate in the "modern Areopag". In the year 2001 we discussed the public welfare. In the following year the second chapter of the Charta served as a basis for the reflections, dealing with justice. In the year 2003 the topic of law was discussed. This year, the Gdansk Areopag will be dedicated to the subject of the responsibility of the word.

In the light of the Charta of Human Duties and Responsibilities the question about the possibility of the implementation of the respective duties emerges. The weight of the influence of the Charta has to be different to the impact of legal paragraphs. The Charta of Human Duties and Responsibilities should be an appeal to the conscience, a moral impetus, a sign for mature awareness. One can not judge disobedience on its basis. But we should agree on a system of ethical reference which we should clearly articulate. This ethos should however without restrictions be valid for the whole world.

Rev. Krzysztof Niedałtowski
Pastor of artists in Gdansk