Pope to Italian Steel Workers: work is essential for human dignity, should be available
to all
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has reaffirmed that employment is essential to society,
families, and individuals and for the dignity of the human person. In a Vatican audience
Thursday for staff and families of the Italian Steel Works company “Acciaierie di
Terni” celebrating its 130th anniversary, Pope Francis said his thoughts
were directed not only to their company and others in the region, but to “all of the
working world."
Listen to Tracey McClure's report:
In the current
economic climate and the difficulties facing the work environment, the Pope said,
“it is necessary to reaffirm that employment is an essential reality for society,
for families and for individuals. Work, in fact, directly regards the person, his/her
life, freedom and happiness. The primary value of employment is the good of the human
person,” because, the Pope explained, it “realizes a person,” intellectually by making
demands on his or her attitudes and creative and manual abilities.
Employment,
then, should not be considered simply as a means for obtaining profit, he continued,
“but above all a purpose that affects man and his dignity. And if there is no work,
this dignity is wounded! Anyone who is unemployed or underemployed risks, in fact,
being placed on the margins of society, becoming a victim of social exclusion. Many
times it happens that people out of work - I think especially of the many unemployed
young people today - slip into chronic discouragement or worse, apathy.”
Speaking
of the “grave” unemployment problems affecting various European countries, Pope Francis
said, this “is the consequence of an economic system that is no longer able to create
jobs, because it places in its center an idol which is called money!”
The Pope
called on society’s political, social and economic spheres “to promote a different
approach, based on justice and solidarity, to ensure everyone has the opportunity
to perform work with dignity.”
Work is an essential need, he emphasized, which
“should be available to everyone.”
Creativity and solidarity are needed
to confront periods of “severe hardship and unemployment,” he said, describing as
“courageous” those “creative entrepreneurs and artisans” who “look to the future with
confidence and hope”
But he also called on all members of society to act in
solidarity with those in need by “giving up something” and adopting “a more sober
lifestyle.”
In concluding, the Pope entreated the working world to “never
stop hoping for a better future” and to not be “trapped in the vortex of pessimism!”
This
difficult and burdensome period of economic turmoil can be overcome, the Pope stressed,
if “everyone does their part” by placing the dignity of the human person at the center.