Understanding the profound role of work in our lives and in society is fundamental to building the “civilization of love and peace.” Work is not just a means to an end, but a transformative force that shapes both ourselves and the world around us.

The Dignity of Human Work: Beyond Simple Production

Human work possesses an intrinsic dignity that goes far beyond its economic value or material productivity. As human beings, we are created in the image of God, endowed with reason, creativity, and free will. When we work, we not only transform nature, but we also fulfill ourselves as human beings, developing our capabilities and contributing to the common good. It is an expression of our participation in God’s creative activity.

The Human Act: The Foundation of Social Dynamics

At the heart of this profound influence of work is its nature as a “human act” (actus humanus). A human act is an action that proceeds from a deliberate will, involving both knowledge and freedom. It is not a mechanical action, but a complex process in which intellect and will interact.

Every human act has a twofold dimension:

• Transitive: It produces an effect external to the agent.
• Immanent: At the same time, it shapes and qualifies the agent itself. Work, through repetition, reinforces those “operative habits” (habitus operativi) that define us and shape our culture.

From Work to Ideopraxis: The Construction of Society

It is precisely this dual nature of work, as both a transitive and immanent human activity, that makes it the “metaphysical topos” in which the circular mechanism of constructing society and constructing the human being unfolds. We don’t just build the world; the world, through the way we work, continues to shape us in its own image.

This process manifests through what the philosopher Tommaso Demaria calls ideopraxis, which means “ideology rationalized into praxis”. Ideopraxis is the vital principle that animates historical reality, transforming ideas into concrete actions that build and shape society.

Our productive activities, our companies, our organizations are living organisms that embody a certain ideopraxis. Every time we act, especially in the context of work, we contribute to spreading, strengthening, and developing the ideology that animates us. Even Artificial Intelligence, as a powerful amplifier of humanity’s innate capacity to construct reality, inherently embodies and reproduces the ideopraxis—the intertwined theoretical concepts and practical actions—of those who develop it, influencing the trajectory of historical development.

The Catholic Contribution to Building a New Civilization

The Catholic vision invites us to understand the centrality of work not only as an economic activity, but as the main instrument for realizing the human being in harmony with the divine plan. Our contribution lies in offering a reflection and a constructive action that start from a more complete vision of reality, a “theoandric” reality, both human and divine at the same time.

This means developing and embodying a Christic ideopraxis, a way of thinking and acting rooted in the love of God (Christian charity). Only in this way can work simultaneously foster integral human development, sustainability, and profit that ensures the life of companies in harmony with true development.

We are called to be co-creators with God, shaping historical reality and ourselves in a way that reflects the principles of the Gospel. In this, work becomes a path towards the building of an authentic “Civilization of Love and Peace”.