Sr. Raffaella Petrini’s address at the 34th Seminar for Theology Professors

Managers with expertise in humanity for a profession experienced as a vocation

Strategies of hope and renewal “cannot avoid engaging with the reality of human work as a fundamental dimension of existence, through which men and women, even within ecclesiastical institutions, build their lives”, said Sr. Raffaella Petrini, Secretary General of the Governorate, on Saturday morning, 4 January, during her address to the 34th Seminar for Theology Professors at the Spanish Pontifical College’s Casa San Juan Ávila, in Rome. The course addressed the theme: “Hope for a more humane economy? Between care and hospitality”.

Sr. Petrini highlighted that “work does not only affect economic development, but also cultural and moral growth”. Hence, “a loss in the meaning of human work within economic organizations – both ecclesiastical and secular – constitutes a deep crisis, as it also represents a loss in the meaning of life”. The Secretary General explained that from this, “stems the conceptual priority of work over so-called capital, which is always just a set of tools through which the person, as the ‘subject’ of their own work, is able to use available resources and transform the surrounding environment”.

This conceptual priority, she stressed, must be made “operational within ecclesiastical structures, especially in light of the many activities that administrations are called to carry out during the Jubilee journey”. Structures that are capable of “being organized internally according to a rationale that values their human capital, will in turn, be better prepared to welcome and care for those they are called to serve”.

Sr. Petrini noted that recent economic literature identifies two distinct types of leadership in management practices: one is based on an ideology referred to as ‘neo-managerial’, which involves a clear separation between private and professional life, ultimately “manipulating aspirations and motivation”. The other “is inspired by a ‘humanistic’ approach to management, based on a view of work experienced as a vocation, which is far more effective in complex modern organizations”.

This second approach is a form of management that is “capable of accompanying people through the inevitable struggles of any organization, willing to recognize the contributions and efforts of its collaborators”. It is a “management of care”, both in practice and virtue, “aimed at also creating value from a moral perspective”. In modern economic structures, “including ecclesiastical ones, humanistic managers carry out management practices of hope. They are not only attentive to professional tools, techniques, and results”, but are also dedicated “to listening and caring for their collaborators -- managers that Luigino Bruni described as experts ‘in humanity’, willing to respond to people’s natural needs for esteem and recognition”.

Sr. Petrini highlighted that a “management of care” based on solidarity and collaboration is a management practice of hope, promoted by “modern leadership, especially in ecclesiastical structures, which are already equipped with a strong shared value system and an internal culture driven by faith”. It is not, in fact, “a merely managerial strategy, aimed at improving efficiency”, but rather, “an attitude aimed at facilitating a paradigm shift, focused on creating a work environment animated by a spirit of ‘social friendship’”. In this sense, it is “an attitude that nurtures hope within economic organizations, fostering perseverance, cultivating trust, and aligning human aspirations with a broader ideal, towards a positive expectation of personal and communal fulfilment”.

After all, Christians live “their own vocation, driven by the desire to make the Gospel’s message of hope shine through in personal, family, and professional and work life, that is, in the management of economic and human resources, to contribute to the building of a society worthy of the human person”. Hope is thus, “expressed in the economic life of people within the organizational structures that mediate their daily interaction with the surrounding environment”. Indeed humans “are ‘impoverished’ beings, who require tools, systems, and, above all, others, in order to meet their needs”. On their own, they are “unable to produce their own wealth, or achieve their own happiness.'

Organized by the Italian Theological Association (ATI), the course took place from Thursday, 2 January to Saturday, 4 January, and was divided into four sessions. Giuliano Zanchi explored the theological meaning of the Jubilee, placing it between the memory of the past and the prophecy of the future. Francesco Ghia addressed the theme of hope, starting from the idea of “hoping against all hope”, while Vincenzo Rosito spoke about trust in fraternity. The final part of the course was dedicated to analysing significant life practices related to hope.

Marco Busca spoke about penance, forgiveness and indulgence, Donata Horak covered restorative justice, and Bruno Bignami addressed ecology and technology.

Building on these reflections, the theologians of the Italian Theological Association (ATI) set out to search for signs of hope in Europe.