Pope Leo XIV Warns "where technology and artificial intelligence increasingly manage...our activities, it is urgent to ensure that companies are characterized first and foremost as human and fraternal"
Pope Leo XIV addressed Italian employment consultants on Thursday, December 18, Pope Leo XIV. He met with the Italian Order of Employment Consultants at the Vatican in light of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Association of Employment Consultants’ professional register. In Italy, employment consultants offer companies advice and support in matters related to employment, hiring, labor laws, and social security.
FULL TEXT ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
TO THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ORDER OF LABOUR CONSULTANTS
Clementine Hall on Thursday, December 18, 2025
_________________________________
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you!
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome.
I am pleased to meet you on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of the Register of the Association of Labor Consultants. Yours is a valuable and responsible commitment, requiring competence and a sense of justice. I would like to discuss with you three aspects that I consider particularly important: the protection of human dignity , mediation , and the promotion of safety .
Regarding the first, I would like to return to an expression I, so to speak, "inherited" from Pope Francis : "By working, we become more human, our humanity flourishes, young people become adults" (Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te , 115).
These words remind us that at the center of any work dynamic should be placed neither capital, nor market forces, nor profit, but rather the individual, the family, and their well-being, to which all else is subordinate. This centrality, consistently affirmed by the Social Doctrine of the Church (cf. St. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus , 3; 5), must be kept firmly in mind in all business planning and planning, so that workers are recognized for their dignity and receive concrete responses to their real needs.
I'm thinking, for example, of the need to meet the needs of young families and parents with young children, as well as the importance of helping those who, despite working, must care for elderly or sick family members. These are needs that no truly civilized society can afford to forget or neglect, and you have a way to support those who struggle to address them. Today, in a context where technology and artificial intelligence increasingly manage and shape our activities, it is urgent to ensure that companies are characterized first and foremost as human and fraternal communities.
This brings us to the second aspect I would like to reflect on: mediation . In business dynamics, your role places you, in a certain sense, as a link between management and employees, making you facilitators of relationships that are indispensable both for the smooth running of businesses and the well-being of those who work there. As labor consultants, you manage legal and administrative aspects that are fundamental to the lives of workers and their families, assisting businesses and employees in drafting contracts, hiring, contributions, and many other matters. In this role, two temptations can arise: on the one hand, excessive bureaucratization of relationships; on the other, distance and detachment from reality. Both are harmful, because in the long run they make the company environment unlivable, preventing it from being, in accordance with its true vocation, a synergy of solidarity (cf. Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium , 218-219 ).
I therefore invite you not to live your profession oppressed by the employer, as if everything else were less important. Saint John, in his First Letter, writes: "If anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart to him, how does God's love abide in him?" ( 1 John 3:17). In light of these words, as you mediate between social groups, I urge you to always keep your eyes wide open on the people before you, especially those in difficulty and less able to express their needs and assert their interests. This is a great act of justice and charity.
But there is one last topic I would like to focus on: promoting safety . In this regard, your work to prevent accidents through worker training and development is very helpful. It is a service to their very lives. Unfortunately, even today, too many accidents and accidental deaths occur in the workplace. What should always be living spaces—where people spend a large portion of their time and energy every day—frequently turn into places of death and desolation. For this reason, I would like to remind you that "safety at work is like the air we breathe: we realize its importance only when it is tragically lacking, and it is always too late!" (Francis, Address to the National Association of Mutilated and Invalid Workers , 11 September 2023). Prevention is better than cure, and this is the aim of your valuable training contributions.
Dear friends, you have an important task. I encourage you to fulfill it with passion and dedication, knowing that many brothers and sisters count on your contribution to carry out their work peacefully. I entrust you to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, Patron Saint of Workers, while I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and your families. And to all of you, I offer my best wishes for a Holy Christmas.
TO THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ORDER OF LABOUR CONSULTANTS
Clementine Hall on Thursday, December 18, 2025
_________________________________
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you!
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome.
I am pleased to meet you on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of the Register of the Association of Labor Consultants. Yours is a valuable and responsible commitment, requiring competence and a sense of justice. I would like to discuss with you three aspects that I consider particularly important: the protection of human dignity , mediation , and the promotion of safety .
Regarding the first, I would like to return to an expression I, so to speak, "inherited" from Pope Francis : "By working, we become more human, our humanity flourishes, young people become adults" (Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te , 115).
These words remind us that at the center of any work dynamic should be placed neither capital, nor market forces, nor profit, but rather the individual, the family, and their well-being, to which all else is subordinate. This centrality, consistently affirmed by the Social Doctrine of the Church (cf. St. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus , 3; 5), must be kept firmly in mind in all business planning and planning, so that workers are recognized for their dignity and receive concrete responses to their real needs.
I'm thinking, for example, of the need to meet the needs of young families and parents with young children, as well as the importance of helping those who, despite working, must care for elderly or sick family members. These are needs that no truly civilized society can afford to forget or neglect, and you have a way to support those who struggle to address them. Today, in a context where technology and artificial intelligence increasingly manage and shape our activities, it is urgent to ensure that companies are characterized first and foremost as human and fraternal communities.
This brings us to the second aspect I would like to reflect on: mediation . In business dynamics, your role places you, in a certain sense, as a link between management and employees, making you facilitators of relationships that are indispensable both for the smooth running of businesses and the well-being of those who work there. As labor consultants, you manage legal and administrative aspects that are fundamental to the lives of workers and their families, assisting businesses and employees in drafting contracts, hiring, contributions, and many other matters. In this role, two temptations can arise: on the one hand, excessive bureaucratization of relationships; on the other, distance and detachment from reality. Both are harmful, because in the long run they make the company environment unlivable, preventing it from being, in accordance with its true vocation, a synergy of solidarity (cf. Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium , 218-219 ).
I therefore invite you not to live your profession oppressed by the employer, as if everything else were less important. Saint John, in his First Letter, writes: "If anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart to him, how does God's love abide in him?" ( 1 John 3:17). In light of these words, as you mediate between social groups, I urge you to always keep your eyes wide open on the people before you, especially those in difficulty and less able to express their needs and assert their interests. This is a great act of justice and charity.
But there is one last topic I would like to focus on: promoting safety . In this regard, your work to prevent accidents through worker training and development is very helpful. It is a service to their very lives. Unfortunately, even today, too many accidents and accidental deaths occur in the workplace. What should always be living spaces—where people spend a large portion of their time and energy every day—frequently turn into places of death and desolation. For this reason, I would like to remind you that "safety at work is like the air we breathe: we realize its importance only when it is tragically lacking, and it is always too late!" (Francis, Address to the National Association of Mutilated and Invalid Workers , 11 September 2023). Prevention is better than cure, and this is the aim of your valuable training contributions.
Dear friends, you have an important task. I encourage you to fulfill it with passion and dedication, knowing that many brothers and sisters count on your contribution to carry out their work peacefully. I entrust you to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, Patron Saint of Workers, while I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and your families. And to all of you, I offer my best wishes for a Holy Christmas.
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