Work in the Magisterium of the Church by Br. Luis Carlos Susin

All must work so that the economic system in which we live does not upset the fundamental order of the priority of work over capital, of the common good over private interest. it is ever more necessary...to establish a global coalition in favor of decent work. John Paul II

The XX century ushered in a new industrial revolution through electric energy and the explosion of the automobile industry, especially with the invention of the ability to invent in a continuous fashion, turning the myth of progress into a technological reality.

St. Ambrose: every worker is christ's hand, which continues to do good.

Any occupation useful to man to earn his sustenance should be carried out with one's hands. feet or tongue. 

it is secularization of work, a form of secularization of grace and of sanctity. to grow rich is a blessing and an opportunity to be a benefactor. it is also the beginning of the society of labour. 

The church mishandled the conflict and the ensuing unrest, and this is attested in Rerum Novarum, where resort to a strip, whether as the cause or the remedy, is not yet a question of a right, but a disturbance that must be prevented...

The search for novelty, the vast expansion of industry, the changed relations between masters and workers, seen in the enormous fortunes of some few individuals and the utter poverty of the masses, the increased self-reliance of the working classes: all of this has caused a fearful conflict...

Leo XII was engaged on two battles: on the one hand, the transformation of labour into a commodity - the buying and selling of the workforce- and that in an unbalanced way, which obliged him to speak in defense of the workers against the excesses of capitalism; on the other hand, the emergence and enormous spread of socialism and consumerism as enticing options, which obliged him to defend the right to property

But to misuse men as though they were things in the pursuit of gain, or to value them solely for their physical powers - that is truly shameful and inhuman

From Leo XIII to Pius XII, the basis for the defense both of labour and of ownership, which are linked, is natural law. 

It is in the nature of work to support one's life and one's own needs, including family. 

The right to private property is vehemently defended, and, in accordance with natural law, it is a worker's right to possess the product of his work. 

A person cannot be reduced to the level of a mere functionary. However, the Pope does more than guarantee the right to private property; at a time when so many were deprived of almost everything, the Pope stresses the right to make use of goods.