Pope Francis calls on young people to protect their authenticity and dignity at work

Pope Francis speaks with young men during a general audience. / Credit: Vatican Media

Madrid, Spain, Dec 18, 2024 / 10:15 am (CNA).

In a message addressed to young people entering the workforce, Pope Francis, alluding to bosses, advised them not to “give in to requests that humiliate you or cause you discomfort, to ways of proceeding and demands that tarnish your authenticity.” 

Pope Francis sent this message to Italian teenagers and young people participating in LaborDì, a day of reflection to promote decent work organized by the Christian Association of Italian Workers.

The Holy Father began his talk with an invitation to hope, reminding them that they are “made for the light.” After adolescence, the pope continued, “the world scene opens up.” Faced with this challenge, he assured the youth that with their contribution “the world can be improved” and that “everything, really everything, can change.”

He urged young people to maintain the awareness of their uniqueness, “which transcends any success or failure” and to establish sincere relationships with others, paying attention to the quality of human life.

The Holy Father invited young people to “guard your heart,” especially when they reach the age of taking on their first job. Faced with the demands and “too many directions and recommendations” that they can experience in the world of work, he asked young people to “remain at peace and free.”

“Don’t give in to requests that humiliate you and cause you discomfort, to ways of proceeding and demands that tarnish your authenticity. In fact, to make your contribution, you don’t have to accept just anything, or even bad things,” Pope Francis warned. 

The pontiff counseled them to “not conform to models you don’t believe in, perhaps to gain social prestige or more money since “evil alienates us, extinguishes dreams, makes us lonely and resigned. The heart knows how to notice it and, when this is the case, we must ask for help and team up with those who know us and care about us.” 

The pope emphasized that “results are not everything,” explaining that machines are already there for that.” Human, on the other hand, is “the intelligence of the heart, the reason that understands the reasons of others, the imagination that creates what is not yet.” We are all “unique pieces”, the Holy Father emphasized.

He then asked the adults who accompany them to not force them into conformity with the status quo or corrupt the young people: “Let us trust in what is planted in their hearts.”

Pope Francis concluded by encouraging young people to join forces and “build networks” to repair our common home and rebuild human fraternity. “The human heart knows how to hope. Work that does not alienate, but liberates, begins in the heart,” he concluded.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.