WASHINGTON — Labor Day marks a time to “recommit ourselves to building together a society that honors the human dignity of all who labor,” said two U.S. Catholic bishops in a joint statement ahead of the Sept. 2 national civic holiday. “Our faith calls us to pray, work and advocate for protections that allow all laborers to thrive,” said Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia and Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, who respectively chair the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development and Committee on Migration. Citing Scripture, Catholic social teaching and papal encyclicals, the two bishops pointed to the Church’s “long history of proclaiming the essential role labor plays in helping people to live out their human dignity” as children of God. Yet the bishops noted that dignity is threatened by a number of factors, including low wages, declining union representation, lack of protection for immigrant laborers and the erosion of child labor laws. “We know it does not have to be this way,” they said. Amid such threats to human dignity, the Catholic Church “offers a vision for the future that does not require our society to choose between a thriving economy, economic justice, dignified conditions for all workers, and safeguarding the most vulnerable among us,” they said, adding, “Let us strive without ceasing to protect the sacredness of human life and together build a society that respects and uplifts each person’s human dignity.” (OSV News)
