Pope’s General Prayer Intention for July: Work Security

June 30, 2012: The General Intention of Pope Benedict XVI for the month of July 2012: Work Security. That everyone may have work in safe and secure conditions.

In his third encyclical CARITAS IN VERITATE or Charity in Truth, Pope Benedict speaks of the importance of jobs: “The dignity of the individual and the demands of justice require, particularly today, … that we continue to prioritize the goal of access to steady employment for everyone.”
Unemployment is a sign that there is something wrong with the economy. Unemployment threatens human dignity, for the human person was created in the image and likeness of the Creator who is always at work in the world.

Yet employment alone is not enough. It has to be “safe and secure.” According to the encyclical, “decent work” is: “work that expresses the essential dignity of every man and woman; work that is freely chosen, effectively associating workers with the development of their community. This work that enables the worker to be respected and free from any form of discrimination. This work makes possible for families to meet their needs and provide schooling for their children, without the children themselves being forced into labor. Work permits workers to organize themselves freely, and to make their voices heard, and that leaves enough room for rediscovering one’s roots at a personal, familial, and spiritual level; that guarantees those who have retired a decent standard of living.”
We pray this month with Pope Benedict XVI that the Christian vision of work may be realized in every nation, that all the economies of the world value people more than material things, that every person may have work, and that they may live in with joy, in safe and secure conditions.