Updated: July 30, 2025
We’re diving deep into a bold and timeless question: Are you making enough at work? In this fourth episode of our Rerum Novarum series on The Catholic Money Show, we unpack the Church’s surprising and convicting answers on wages, rest, labor rights, and what it means to work with dignity.
Whether you’re an employee, a business owner, or someone in between, Pope Leo XIII’s words (from 1891!) are more relevant than ever—and you don’t need a theology degree to understand them.
In This Episode:
- Why “consensual pay” isn’t automatically just pay
- The Church’s stance on working conditions and overwork
- How rest, family time, and spiritual life factor into labor justice
- What Rerum Novarum says about child labor—and what we’re still getting wrong today
- The moral duty of business owners (and what Catholic entrepreneurs can learn)
- What makes a good workers’ association (hint: it’s not just about benefits)
- How this teaching translates to modern life
We cover paragraphs 42–61 of the encyclical in this episode and gear up for the finale next week.
Favorite Takeaway:
“A workman ought to have leisure and rest proportionate to the wear and tear of his strength… for waste of strength must be repaired by cessation from hard work.”
— Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum §42
In other words: your value isn’t measured in output alone. Real productivity must honor the person behind the labor.
Why This Matters:
The Church doesn’t just care about souls on Sunday. She cares about how we’re treated at work, how we treat others in business, and how faith shapes the economy. Let’s build a world where people come before profit.
📝 Show Notes:
📖 Read Rerum Novarum:https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html
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