Pope Leo Thinks the Benedictine Tradition is Great (Part 2): Work and Pray

Last time, I wrote about Pope Leo’s letter, Dilexi te, in which he commends the Benedictine tradition to all Christians for its witness to solidarity with the poor. This time, I turn to his encyclical letter, Magnifica humanitas, where he commends the Benedictine tradition for its integration of work and prayer.

In chapter four of his encyclical on Artificial Intelligence, subtitled “Safeguarding
Humanity at a Time of Transformation,” Leo addresses the dignity of work. He immediately
provides St. Benedict and the Benedictine tradition as a scion of the value of work: “we can
understand the great intuition of Saint Benedict of Nursia, who united prayer and work, showing
daily activity to be a part of the human response to God’s call. Created in the image of the
Creator, our own work in some way continues his, for thereby we contribute to the progress of
society and the common good, put to good use the capabilities we have received, improve and
beautify the world, support our families, engage in cooperative relationships and, through
listening and dialogue, learn to build together something that no one could achieve alone”
(§148). Leo praises the integration of prayer and work as a form of work which is rightly
oriented, flowing from a relationship with God. He writes, “work is not simply an instrument; it
expresses and enhances the dignity of our lives” (§149). Ultimately, he cautions those who would
rob workers of their dignity by deploying technologies that “can paradoxically de-skill workers,
subject them to automated surveillance and relegate them to rigid and repetitive tasks” (§150).

Concerning work, Benedict writes in the Rule: “idleness (otiosus) is the soul’s enemy”
(48.1). This sentence can be misunderstood as the words of a scolding father warding off
laziness. But a careful reading of chapter 48 shows that Benedict’s perspective is more
instructive than that.

Otiosus is a Christian word, uncommon in the typical Latin vocabulary of Benedict’s
time. It seems Benedict used it to avoid misinterpretation. The more standard term, otium, can
also mean positive, creative leisure. So Benedict, in choosing otiosus, shows that problematic
idleness is not just the absence of work but the absence of work and true leisure.

Further, he outlined the remedy for otiosus: work and prayer. On the one hand, the
prayer he writes of is outlined in chapter 48: the communal practice of the Liturgy of the Hours
and private practice of Lectio Divina. On the other hand, the work he writes of is communal:
producing the monastery’s livelihood. So, as Pope Leo points out, St. Benedict unknowingly
provided us with tools for helping us diagnose troubling developments in the world of work in
the digital age.

What do Benedict and Leo teach us? As work changes, we must look out for both the
dignity of the work itself, anchoring it in our relationship with God and in our human dignity,
and in the case that AI changes our lives outside of work we must cultivate true leisure.