Papal Encyclicals on Labor, Work

Rerum Novarum (On the Condition of Labor)
Pope Leo XIII, May 15, 1891
This work addresses the deplorable plight of the industrial workers in the wake of the Industrial Revolution. It calls for the protection of the weak and the poor through the perfection of justice by charity, while excluding socialism and class struggle as legitimate principles of change. It affirms:

* the dignity of work,
* the right to private property,
* the right to from and join professional associations.


Quadragesimo Anno (On the Reconstruction of the Social Order)
Pope Pius XI, May 15, 1931

Written in response to the alarming concentration of wealth and power in the socioeconomic realism, Pius XI calls for the re-establishment of a social order based on the principle of subsidiarity. In commemorating the 40th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, this encyclical reaffirms the need for a social order founded on and animated by justice and charity.

Mater et Magistra (Christianity and Social Progress)
Pope John XX III, May 15, 1961

This work affirmed the role of the Church as a teacher distinguishing good and evil, and as a nurturing mother to the poor and oppressed, John XXIII calls for a greater awareness of the need for all peoples to live as one community with a common good. Special attention is focused on the plight of the farmers and farm workers in depressed rural, agricultural economies.


Laborem Exercens (On Human Work)
Pope John Paul II, September 14, 1981

Exhorting Christians everywhere to be involved in the transformation of existing socioeconomic systems, John Paul II presents work as a fundamental dimension of human existence through which the "social question" must be viewed. The meaning of work can only be properly understood when the dignity of labor is taken as an underlying premise.