“In work there is life and dignity”

“Called to address a new organization of human labour” is the title of a seminar held a few days ago in Seville, the first diocesan meeting for a joint Action to counter joblessness “Before unemployment, comes your conscience”. The tragedy of unemployment. The Archbishop of Seville, Monsignor Juan José Asenjo, opened the meeting calling on the whole Church of Seville to place at the centre of the community “the concern for the unemployed”. “The crisis has left many families without their jobs and without hope. The Church of Seville cannot remain indifferent before this situation. Work gives dignity, unemployment destroys dignity, we need effective and lasting solutions to overcome the crisis”, said the prelate. The meeting was attended by over 200 persons from parishes and movements in the Spanish diocese. Marcelo Villarreal, delegate of the Federation of “cartoneros” and recyclers in Argentina, experts and volunteers of the diocesan Caritas, the Foundation Cardinal Spínola and the Christian Cultural Movement, shared their experiences and initiatives in the fight against unemployment. Among the activities promoted, figure job search orientation, development of materials to raise awareness on these issues along with the support of the parishes to families in situations of difficulty caused by lack of employment. Three objectives. This first meeting had three objectives: to create an approach to the reality of work that goes beyond the present crisis, raising awareness on the suffering of those hit by unemployment and on ecclesial initiatives designed to seek an answer to the problem of unemployment and precarious work. After the meeting a participants signed a note of the Church of Seville, stating: “The form in which human labour is organized and understood in today’s world does not place the human person at the center. Unemployment, precarious jobs, low wages that keep families under the threshold of poverty, the loss of workers’ rights and the rise of social inequalities are growing daily, and stem from an economy at the service of money and power of the few. As Pope Francis reminds us, just as the commandment not to kill puts a clear limit to ensure the value of human life, today we have to say ‘no’ to an economy of exclusion and inequity. This economy kills”. Commitment for the last. “When social life – even work – focuses on money, and not on the person, we deny the primacy of the human being over things, we deny the primacy of God. The way of conceiving human labour today creates poverty and exclusion and dehumanizes workers – the note reads -. For this reason any attack on the dignity of human labour is, inherently, an attack on the dignity of men and women, implementing it and, therefore, a denial of God”. Before this situation, “As believers in the God of life, we cannot remain indifferent before human suffering. We are called to work for the humanization of our world, for paths of justice and solidarity that may construct the common good, since as Pope Francis has reminded us, turning a deaf ear to this outcry, when we are instruments of God to listen to the poor, places us outside the will of the Father and of His project”. For this reason, continues the document of the Seville Church, “we feel called to a deep personal conversion, to ask ourselves what must be changed in our life, how we can be enlightened by the Holy Spirit and reorient our life decisions for the poor, starting from communion, moderation and sharing, from respect for creation”. “We feel called by Jesus himself – continues the statement – to discern our contribution as a Christian community to overcome this situation of injustice in supporting and accompanying those who are denied the right to have the sustenance for themselves and their families. Hence “the commitment to finding solutions that are aimed both at preventing the loss of jobs, as in the development of creative initiatives and alternatives that may be seeds of the Gospel and signs of the Kingdom that God wants”.