Pope Leo XIV told labor leaders, business figures and academics at Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA) that the economy must serve the human person rather than the other way around. Addressing an audience of more than 700 people from the world of work, he called for stable policies that promote full employment and social inclusion, and he framed unemployment as a real tragedy.
The pontiff's remarks focused on social justice, the conditions of workers and the dignity of labor. He invoked the demands associated with Pope Francis, who spoke of land, shelter and work as basic rights, and he recalled his predecessor in the course of his address. He also criticized the idea that profit is the sole measure of a business's success, arguing that the health of an enterprise cannot be judged by financial results alone.
On the role of the state, Leo XIV said public authorities retain a regulatory responsibility for the common good, but he stressed that the state should not attempt to do everything itself. He also warned that artificial intelligence could threaten jobs and human development if it is introduced without regard for people's livelihoods, placing the question of technological change within the broader debate on work.
Among those present in the front row was Minister Sandra Pettovello, whose portfolio at Capital Humano includes oversight of labor matters. The audience included leaders of the two main Argentine union confederations, the CGT and the CTA, as well as business figures such as Cabrales and Hadad. Unions were praised as indispensable to the country's social fabric, and the pope encouraged them to reach out to precarious and informal workers who often fall outside formal protections.
Businesspeople were credited with creating jobs and taking risks, and the pope urged concord between employers and unions, as well as cooperation with the state. The message was presented as a call for dialogue among the principal actors in economic life rather than as an endorsement of any single model.
The message is likely to be read against the economic direction of President Javier Milei, whose libertarian approach emphasizes reduced state intervention and market liberalization. Reports on the event suggested that the papal message sat uneasily with that line, though the government's formal response was not clear at the time of reporting. Accounts also noted that Pettovello appeared to yawn during the speech, a detail that circulated widely but whose significance remains open to interpretation.