Catholics must honor labor. This has been a steady teaching of the Popes for at least the last century and a quarter. Catholicism, after all, rejects the nasty individualism that characterizes so much of the modern world, in favor of a philosophy of the common good. Catholics realize that we as individuals prosper only when everyone prospers. Catholics understand that the economy only thrives when all of its constituent parts succeed. And Catholics know in their hearts that when some persons suffer, all are diminished.
This awareness can be traced back at least as far as Pope Leo XIII (reigned 1878 to 1903). Leo became Pope at a difficult moment in Church history. His immediate predecessor, Pius IX, had fought a losing battle to maintain control of the Papal States. As a result, Leo's temporal realm no longer extended over much of central Italy, but was now encompassed within the walls of Vatican City.
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