REFLECTION ON THE LABOREMS EXERCENS OF ST.

JOHN PAUL II
St. John Paul II wrote the Laborems Exercens for the purpose of showing what
the church stands for when it comes to the labor of man. He believes that the church
definitely has a say on what are the proper working conditions for man.St. John Paul II
begins his Laborems Exercens discussing the relationship of work and man. He
discusses that work is an essential part of life. He also says that man gains his control
and sovereignty over the world only through work and he points out how work is also
affected by technology which I believe is very relevant in todays working society. He
also examines the relationship of man to work and capital where he looks at the
relationship of work and capital. He shows how labor should be much more important
than capital where labor is much more efficient and capital is nothing but a means to
production. The 3rd discussed issues are the rights of a worker; one highlight is the
issue of unemployment. He proposes the revision of the employment framework so
that each individual would have an equal opportunity to provide and labor and in
turn, work for himself. Lastly he discusses the importance of having God in work,
where he shows how Christ himself was a laborer. I believe this Laborems Exercens of
the past pope is a good framework on what we should follow as a society on how we
view our labor conditions.