Pope Leo XIV gave a speech at the Catholic University of Argentina

After leading a massive mass before more than 2 million people in front of the Monument to the Spaniards, Pope León XIV had a historic day this Monday at the Pontifical Catholic University Argentina (UCA), where he presented a strong doctrine aimed at placing human dignity, private initiative, and the common good at the core of the national productive model. In an atmosphere of deep spiritual harmony, the Holy Father gathered entrepreneurs, union leaders, teachers, and representatives of the popular economy to reaffirm the pillars of the Social Doctrine of the Church, supporting the value of capital that risks and creates jobs in accordance with the ethical principles of economic freedom and development promoted by the government of President Javier Milei.

The meeting took place in the Juan Pablo II hall of the UCA, which was filled more than 1 hour before the arrival of the papal delegation, while attendees sang loudly the verses of the traditional song Zamba para olvidarte. The event began with words from the Archbishop of Buenos Aires and Grand Chancellor of the higher education institution, Monsignor Jorge García Cuerva, who welcomed the Pontiff by saying: “Feel at home”.

In turn, the bishop of La Rioja and President of the Episcopal Commission for Social Pastoral, Monsignor Dante Braida, introduced the audience by stating that “we are gathered here, representatives of the world of work, members of social movements, and the academic environment”, emphatically adding that “the high rate of precariousness and unemployment at the local level concerns us, but hope does not wane”.

Prior to the papal speech, 5 testimonies from the labor sector were heard, among which stood out that of Verónica San Martín, president and spokesperson of the United Recyclers Cooperative of La Plata, who moved the room by stating: "We do not want to go back, we want to continue working and conquering rights"; an intervention that touched León XIV himself, who stood up from his seat to warmly embrace her.

On the conceptual and economic level, Pope León XIV gave explicit recognition to the vocation and effort of the private business sector, highlighting its irreplaceable role in generating legitimate wealth. The Supreme Pontiff asserted that “entrepreneurs, creators of jobs with their capital, often risk their own assets”, linking this noble task with the vision of the venerable Enrique Shaw —a Catholic businessman and founder of the UCA— whom he quoted, recalling his historical notes from September 8, 2025: «It is necessary to form Christian entrepreneurs and give them a style of life: to contribute to a better world, mainly through the action of each Christian entrepreneur in their own sphere... This is a mission of religion and life: to try to sanctify ourselves through our profession and to sanctify the profession».

However, the Holy Father emphasized that private property and capital have an unavoidable social mortgage, warning that “when economic benefit is absolutized as the only criterion of success, the company becomes dehumanized and turns into a structure of sin that generates exclusion”.

In deepening the anthropological value of employment and citing the encyclical Laborem exercens (number 25) of Saint John Paul II and the writings of León XIII (Rerum novarum), the Pontiff reaffirmed that “the human being is the author, the center, and the end of all economic-social life and therefore the economy must be at the service of the person, and not the person at the service of the economy”.

In that same line of firm defense of workers, León XIV warned against social exclusion, stating that “depriving a person of work is not simply denying them an economic income; it is seriously wounding their dignity”. Likewise, recalling the teaching of Pope Francis on the three “T” (land, roof, and work), he praised the principle of active subsidiarity, reminding that neither the State nor large corporations should overwhelm the initiatives of intermediate bodies and informal workers.

Finally, Pope León XIV addressed the challenges of the digital age and the regulation of technology, stating categorically that “technology must always be subordinated to ethics; the algorithm cannot replace human discernment nor the intrinsic value of the presence and effort of the worker”. To conclude his teaching at the UCA, His Holiness demanded that “access to work for all must remain a priority objective of public policies and economic processes”, leaving a profound spiritual and institutional lesson that resonates throughout the nation: “There is no small work in the eyes of God: the greatness of a work does not reside in what is done, but in the love put into each gesture, each word, each thought”.