Labour After Laudato Si Initiative

The role of entrepreneurs and business leaders

In 2015, in his encyclical letter Laudato Si, in §129, Pope Francis stressed the concept of business as a vocation to the extent that the creation of jobs is seen as an essential part of its service to the common good. Previously, in 2013, in its apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, in §203, Pope Francis metioned: “Business is a vocation, and a noble vocation, provided that those engaged in it see themselves challenged by a greater meaning in life; this will enable them truly to serve the common good by striving to increase the goods of this world and to make them more accessible to all”.

In light of the Christian Social Thought, the PCJP and UNIAPAC coedited in 2012 the Booklet* The Vocation of the Business Leader – A Reflection to a better understanding of the legitimate role that business plays and could play in modern life and about its critical contribution to the common good of the communities in which we live. A common good understood as the conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members’ relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfilment.

In the Foreword of this booklet Peter K.A. Cardinal Turkson provides a sound summary as a base for further analysis and deeper comprehension of Business as a Noble Vocation: “Business leaders are called to engage with the contemporary economic and financial world in light of the principles of human dignity and the common good”.

UNIAPAC fully accept the challenges that Laudato Si is imposing on business, in particular to aim at full employment in condition of dignity, labour being an essential means of human fulfilment and a significant contribution to the common good.

* Download here the French version, the Portuguese version and the Spanish version.

The challenge is to continue contributing our societies and our business leaders to turn business into a noble vocation. UNIAPAC has made significant contributions to foster the integral development of the person in our responsibilities as business leaders, giving a deeper sense to CSR initiatives and putting the principles and values of the Social Doctrine of the Church at work in business decisions.

As Christian Business leaders we have the responsibility, in cooperation with Governments and civil society, to find common responses to the Global Crisis with a transformative perspective in the promotion of integral ecology and integral human development.

Gathering on 4 years of common reflections and advocacy on decent work together with other Catholic Inspired organisations, UNIAPAC designed an ambitious capacity building multi-stakeholder project for 3 years.

This collaborative project aims at gathering business leaders, academic community and civil society to advance the global reflection and practices, with a focus on the relationship between the Laudato Si dimensions and the 8^th goal of the Agenda 2030.

This project includes:

• Co-creating an international network of chairs and advancing academic research on Laudato Si and decent work 
• Fostering international partnerships and regional networks between businesses, academic communities and civil society organizations
• Disseminating the results through innovative multilingual pedagogical tools (MOOCs, SPOCs…) beyond the traditional channels.