Cardinal Fernández recalls Pope Francis’s work ethic, teaching on work
May 05, 2025
» Continue to this story on Vatican Press Office (Italian)
CWN Editor's Note: Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith from 2023 until the Pontiff’s death, celebrated the sixth of the novendiali Masses for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis. The Mass took place in St. Peter’s Basilica on the evening of May 1 (booklet, video).
During the Mass, celebrated almost entirely in Italian, the 62-year-old Argentine prelate recalled Pope Francis’s teaching on work, in which “work expresses and nourishes the dignity of the human being, allows him to develop his abilities, helps him to grow relationships, allows him to feel like a collaborator with God to take care of and improve this world, makes him feel useful to society and in solidarity with his loved ones.”
Cardinal Fernández criticized a false concept of “meritocracy” that looks down on hardworking persons who are poor. He also recalled the late Pontiff’s work ethic:
In Buenos Aires, in the summer, if you didn’t find a priest you certainly found him. When he was in Argentina he never went out to dinner, to the theater, for a walk or to see a movie, he never took a day off completely ...The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.
His daily work was his response to God’s love, it was the expression of his concern for the good of others. And for these reasons, work itself was his joy, his nourishment, his rest.
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