An Auxiliary Bishop in Birmingham, William Kenney, told a Caritas summit on Catholic social teaching and the world of work that “what is needed is to put each individual at the centre of our thinking and concerns, not the economy, nor privilege, nor wealth, but every person’s dignity as a worker, whatever it is that they contribute to the world.”
The conference was held on Tuesday at the Mechanics Institute in Manchester, where the Trades Union Congress met for the first time, 150 years ago, “and that in itself makes this a hallowed place for any Catholic aware of the social teaching of the Catholic Church”, Bishop Kenney observed.
The meeting brought together expertise from trade unions, the opposition Labour Party and the academic world. Speaking to The Tablet, the Chief Executive of Caritas, Phil McCarthy, said changes from digitalisation, outsourcing, “gig” working and precarious employment would inform the gathering: “It’s about the dignity of work and the importance of work and the dignity of each person to provide for themselves and their families.”
Bishop Kenney recalled the role of Cardinal Manning who intervened in the London dock strike in 1890 as well as a papal encyclical from 1889, Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, which was “written against the background of the industrial revolution and the exploitation of working people.”
He connected these thoughts with Pope Francis’ encyclical three years ago, Laudato Si, which observes that the world is in the hands of technocratic human beings – which is risky because “we are sinful people and have not proven that we can use power well” – and because technological growth has not been “accompanied by a development in human responsibility, values and conscience.” Bishop Kenney argued that Pope Francis returns to many of the concerns of Leo XIII, even though we now live in a very different world, essentially to highlight every worker’s dignity.
Loading ...
