By Deborah Castellano Lubov
Before passing away on Easter Monday, Apr 21, Pope Francis had expressed his wish that the Church pray during the month of May “For working conditions.”
Due to his death, the format for the video accompanying this prayer intention has changed, and offers for the faithful words on this theme from the last three Popes, late Pope Francis, Benedict XVI, and Pope St John Paul II.
Accompanying the Popes’ words are images that combine different lived experiences revolving around the world of work.
Sustaining families and humanizing society
The Pope Video for May, produced with the support of the Chamber of Commerce of Rome and the Fondazione PRO Rete Mondiale di Preghiera del Papa and distributed by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, invites us to pray “that through work, each person might find fulfilment, families might be sustained in dignity, and that society might be humanized.”
Moreover, in this moment of history, The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network says, it entrusts the mission of the next Pope to the Lord and continues its apostolic work, praying for the challenges of humanity and the Church’s mission.
Pope Francis: ‘Jesus practiced his father’s trade’
The video recalls Pope Francis’ words during a 2022 General Audience, remembering when the Evangelists Matthew and Mark refer to Joseph as a carpenter.
“Jesus practised his father’s trade, which was a pretty hard job. From an economic point of view, it did not ensure great earnings. This biographical fact about Joseph and Jesus” made him ‘think of all the workers in the world.’”
“Work”, Pope Francis had added, “anoints our dignity: What gives you dignity is not bringing bread home. What gives you dignity is earning your bread.”
Benedict’s address to workers on Feast of St Joseph
Next, the video turns to late Pope Benedict XVI, remembering when he addressed all workers on the feast of Saint Joseph in 2006, and stressed that “work is of fundamental importance to the fulfilment of the human being and to the development of society.”
“Thus, it must always be organized and carried out with full respect for human dignity and must always serve the common good,” he said, while adding, that, “At the same time, it is indispensable that people do not allow themselves to be enslaved by work or idolize it, claiming to find in it the ultimate and definitive meaning of life.”
JPII at the Jubilee of Workers
Finally, the video turns to late Pope Saint John Paul II and his remarks when celebrating the Jubilee of Workers in the Jubilee Year 2000.
On the occasion, he said, “the Jubilee Year calls for a rediscovery of the meaning and value of work. It is also an invitation to address the economic and social imbalances in the world of work by re-establishing the right hierarchy of values, giving priority to the dignity of working men and women and to their freedom, responsibility and participation.”
Moreover, John Paul II also called for “redressing situations of injustice” while not forgetting those “suffering because of unemployment, inadequate wages or lack of material resources.” – Vatican News
