Businesses must pursue workers' good along with profit, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Although almost 135 years have passed since Pope Leo XIII wrote his encyclical on the economy and labor, Pope Leo XIV -- who chose his name to honor that predecessor -- said, "The dignity of workers continues, all too often, to be violated."

Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical, "Rerum Novarum," was "born in a time of profound industrial transformations," his successor said, but it remains "strikingly relevant in the globalized world we inhabit."

Writing to business leaders and others attending the Nov. 13 conference of the Industrial Organization of Argentina, the country's largest association of manufacturing businesses, Pope Leo reminded the leaders of some of the key teachings of his predecessor.

"It was strongly affirmed," he said, "that 'it is neither just nor human so to grind men down with excessive labor as to stupefy their minds and wear out their bodies,'" and that workers have a right to a just wage, to form unions or other associations and to live with dignity.

For the Catholic Church, the pope said, the economy "is not an end in itself but an essential -- yet partial -- aspect of the social fabric in which God's plan of love for every human being unfolds."

That means that production and profit cannot be pursued without concern for the growth and development of the people involved, he said.

Pope Leo XIII "also warned that those who enjoy material abundance must carefully avoid harming, even in the slightest way, the livelihood of the less fortunate, which --however modest -- must be considered sacred, precisely because it constitutes the indispensable support of their existence," he said.

"These words remain a constant challenge," the pope said, because "they invite us not to measure the success of a business solely in economic terms, but also by its capacity to generate human development, social cohesion and care for creation.

When business decisions literally impact the lives of thousands of families, "holiness must flourish," Pope Leo said. "The world urgently needs entrepreneurs and leaders who, out of love for God and neighbor, work for an economy that serves the common good."

He prayed that the Argentine leaders would renew their commitment to "an innovative, competitive and above all human industry -- capable of sustaining the development of our people without leaving anyone behind."