Employment serves human dignity, Pope tells workers

March 20, 2014

Speaking on March 20 to managers and employees of the Italian Steel Works, which is celebrating its 130th anniversary, Pope Francis said that work serves “not only the economic objective of profit, but above all a purpose that regards man and his dignity.”

Work enhances human dignity, the Pope said, and “if there is no work, this dignity is wounded.” He observed that “the unemployed and underemployed risk being relegated to the margins of society.”

Pope Francis observed that European society faces widespread unemployment, a problem that he traced to “an economic system that is no longer able to create work, because it has placed at its center the idol of money.” He urged his listeners to work for “a different approach, based on justice and solidarity.”

“This great challenge requires the involvement of the Christian community as a whole,” the Pope said. He urged his audience to have faith, noting that “faith moves mountains.”

 

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Further information:

• Pope Francis: Without Work, Human Dignity Is Wounded (VIS)
• Pope to Italian Steel Workers: work is essential for human dignity, should be available to all (Vatican Radio)