In the name of the Father, 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 Professional Register of the Association of Labour Consultants. Yours is a valuable and highly responsible commitment, which requires competence and a sense of justice. I would like to highlight 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 repeat an expression that I have, so to speak, “inherited” from Pope Francis: ‘By working we become a fuller person, our humanity flourishes, young people become adults” (Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te, 115). These words remind us that at the centre of any work dynamic there should be neither capital, nor market laws, nor profit, but the person, the family, and their well-being, to which everything else is functional. This centrality, constantly affirmed by the social doctrine of the Church (cf. Saint John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus annus, 3; 5), must be kept in mind in all business planning and design, so that workers are recognized in their dignity and receive concrete responses to their real needs.

I am thinking, for example, of the need to meet the needs of young families, of parents with small children, as well as the importance of helping those who, while working, must care for elderly and sick family members. These are needs that no truly civilized society can afford to forget or neglect, and you have the means to support those who struggle to meet them. Today, in a context where technology and artificial intelligence increasingly manage and condition our activities, it is urgent to ensure that companies are characterized first and foremost as humane and fraternal communities.

This brings us to the second aspect I would like to reflect on: mediation. In corporate dynamics, your role positions you, in a certain sense, as a link between management and employees, making you facilitators of relationships that are essential both for the smooth running of businesses and for the well-being of those who work there. As labour consultants, you manage legal and administrative aspects that are fundamental to the lives of workers and their families, supporting companies and employees in matters of contracts, hiring, contributions, and many other obligations. In this role, there may be two temptations: on the one hand, an excessive bureaucratization of relationships, and on the other, distance and detachment from reality. Both are harmful because, in the long run, they make the company environment untenable, preventing it from being, in accordance with its truest vocation, a supportive synergy (cf. FRANCIS, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, 218-219).

I therefore invite you not to live your profession weighed down by the aspect of being employers, as if the rest 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 against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 Jn 3:17). In light of these words, as you act as intermediaries in relations between the social partners, I urge you to always keep your eyes open to the people in front of you, especially those who are in difficulty and have fewer opportunities to express their needs and assert their interests. This is a great act of justice and charity.

But there is still one more topic I would like to focus on: the promotion of safety. In this regard, what you do to prevent accidents through the training and ongoing education of workers is very beneficial. It is a service to their very lives. Unfortunately, even today, there are still too many accidents and “white deaths” in the workplace. What should always be places of life—where people spend much of their time and expend a great deal of their 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 Italian National Association of Injured Workers, 11 September 2023). Prevention is better than cure, and that is the aim of your valuable educational contributions.

Dear friends, you have an important task. I encourage you to fulfil it with passion and dedication, aware that many brothers and sisters count on your contribution to carry out their work activities peacefully. I entrust you to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and to Saint Joseph, Patron Saint of Workers, while I cordially impart my apostolic blessing upon you and your families. And I extend my best wishes for a Holy Christmas to all of you.

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Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 18 December 2025