Pope Leo XIV received representatives of the Association of Lay Vatican Employees and the Women in the Vatican Association in an audience on October 5, 2026. He highlighted women’s contributions to the life of institutions and called for preserving the central place of the human person and the dignity of work, especially in the age of artificial intelligence. He described dialogue as the principal way to seek solutions to problems together.
The Association of Lay Vatican Employees represents workers, while the Women in the Vatican Association is the first organization made up entirely of women, founded in 2016. Addressing their representatives, the Pope offered guidelines for a healthy working community in the Vatican, characterized by respect, justice, and mutual assistance rather than conflict, dissatisfaction, and resentment.
First, he thanked the members of the associations for their dedication and spirit of service in the various bodies of the Apostolic See. Speaking about today’s challenges, especially the development of artificial intelligence, he urged them to remain continually attentive to the irreplaceable central place of the human person and the inalienable dignity of work. Work, he noted, is not merely a means; it also expresses and advances the dignity of human life.
Women’s contribution to the quality of work
Leo XIV gave special attention to women’s contribution to the quality of the working environment and of work itself. He highlighted their role in fostering cooperation, listening to one another, and paying attention to difficulties.
“Women’s presence is a treasure that must be recognized and increasingly valued,” the Pope said. Along with a particular sensitivity to people and relationships, women bring human, professional, and intellectual talents that are characteristic of women’s experience and reflection. Their competence, ability to make judgments, creativity, and practicality, he added, improve the life of institutions and make it possible to take a broader view of reality and the problems they face.
Community and unity in the same mission
The Pope stressed that everyone has equal dignity and that each person, in their role and through their own commitment, contributes to the same mission. This awareness and responsibility should be expressed above all through conscientious faithfulness to the tasks and duties entrusted to each person. Zeal, diligence, and professionalism, he emphasized, must characterize everyone who takes part in the activities of the Apostolic See.
Referring to the teaching of his predecessors, Leo XIV recalled that those who work for the Apostolic See should keep two fundamental concepts in mind: community and unity. All those who, in different roles and with different tasks, cooperate through their work in the Pope’s ministry form an ecclesial community. In a spirit of faith and unity, they take part in the unique and universal mission that the Lord Jesus entrusted to the apostle Peter and his successors.
Dialogue as the way to solutions
In this context, the Pope quoted Saint John Paul II, who acknowledged the value of cooperation with the Association of Lay Vatican Employees in promoting this spirit. He also recalled Pope Wojtyła’s clarification that for such an organization to engage in conflict or discord is not in keeping with the Church’s social teaching.
Leo XIV therefore urged both associations always to follow the “path of dialogue,” with confidence and creativity. This path, he said, involves seeking appropriate solutions together to the problems they must face together, as well as building a working community day by day.
In its report, Vatican News says that the American Pope consistently repeats the call to renew dialogue at every level in his encyclical *Magnifica humanitas* as well. Dialogue is presented as an integral part of the Church’s mission, the principal means of coexistence among people, and the customary way of resolving conflicts. The Pope has also entrusted these two associations with the task of renewing it. The Regulatory Framework itself defines the Association of Lay Vatican Employees as a “structure for dialogue.”
In conclusion, Leo XIV called for walking together to build a working environment that respects every person: “Walking together along this path, we will increasingly commit ourselves to building a working community in which people are neither exploited nor neglected, where mutual help is offered, and where each person’s value and expertise are recognized, while avoiding the fostering of dissatisfaction and resentment.”
