Industriousness. Diligence. Prudence. Courage.

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In his 1991 encylical “Centesimus Annus,” Pope Saint John Paul II remembered the great importance of the social encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, “Rerum Novarum.” He also listed these virtues as essential for every business undertaking. Those taking risks to build their own business especially need the virtue of courage. But entrepreneurs are not just called to build for themselves but contribute to the common good.

SENT Ventures, founded by John Cannon, is a US-based ministry serving Catholic entrepreneurs. During the Jubilee of Entrepreneurs on May 4th and 5th they brought together business leaders from the US and Europe to discuss evangelization and entrepreneurialism. Hosted at the EWTN Vatican Bureau, the focus was on how to reach people through new technologies effectively.

We’re here in Rome during the Jubilee for entrepreneurs. You brought a few entrepreneurs here to Rome as well. Does the Church need more entrepreneurialism?

“Yes, so I'm with an organization called SENT and that's our mission really. It’s inspired by saints, like Mother Teresa, Ignatius of Loyola, who were up to renew the Church in their time, and they were holy, but they were also very entrepreneurial and they found needs and they addressed them and I think if we have leaders and people like that today who have this entrepreneurial spirit to address challenges in the world with God, it could be transformative for things.”

Mother Teresa as an entrepreneur?

“I think at the heart of entrepreneurship is addressing needs in a creative way. So, we all think of entrepreneurship as like some new way to make money. But it's really at the core of the identity of the entrepreneurs. One wants to solve problems for a good, solve the problems of an individual, and these entrepreneurs of our faith, like Mother Teresa or Ignatius of Loyola, or others, they often addressed the human and spiritual needs of people.”

John, business and faith. How does that go together?

“Well, I mean they're not mutually exclusive. Business is an end and the goal is just to make money, or grow something and that's the end and it’s not according to God's design, but if it's a means, if we use business as a means for good, for engaging the Kingdom, for creating opportunities and employment for people, it can be a good of itself.

“So, even if you think even of Saint Paul, he was a great missionary, he was founding communities all over the world. It's mission. And that's also entrepreneurship. So, I think it's a helpful way of thinking about renewal and evangelization today.”

Another businessman who came to Rome during the Jubilee is Stephen Auth. He had a stellar career on Wall Street until he suffered a heart failure. Today, he speaks openly how this incident brought him on his knees.

“I resolved at that time, lying there on my back with tubes hanging out of my body, and if I did, you know, get out of this, I would... If I had another chance I would do it differently. So from that moment I became a missionary. And I do believe the Lord has given me my position, which is odd, because it's a very powerful position on Wall Street, I oversee almost $100 billion and have a lot of people in New York and London and Boston, and I'm on all the business channels and all those things and it's giving me a chance to bring the light of Christ to a different place. You know where sometimes it's kind of dark.”

So you stayed in your position, but you became a missionary?

“Yes, I've stayed in it because I think it's a platform for everything else and well, of course, I love my job, I love my people and I think they kind of love me. What I found is that as I applied and learned more about my own faith, ironically, I thought it would make me kind of a disaster, a monster, but incrementally it made me better.”

The Jubilee of Entrepreneurs was overshadowed by the passing of Pope Francis and his funeral a few days earlier.

The election of Pope Leo XIV brought new relevance to the topic of entrepreneurialism.

He shared early on that he chose his name in honour of Pope Leo XIII. This pontiff wrote his encyclical “Rerum Novarum” in reaction to the Industrial Revolution. He struck a great balance between encouraging entrepreneur spirit and social justice. The current Pope Leo XIV is facing a similar upheaval of society: the digital revolution.

This was one of the most pressing topics at this year's conference of the Papal Foundation “Centesimus Annus,” whose members also met with Pope Leo.

Paolo Garonna, President of the “Centesimus Annus” Foundation, stated:

“On one side there is this reluctance to accept what the Pope called the ‘technocratic paradigm’ and so, I think to use artificial intelligence as a tool, as a tool to support, you know, natural, human intelligence and so I think new technologies in general are a topic of great interest to us.”

Amongst your speakers were many Cardinals, the Secretary of State was here as well. What role can the Church play today to address society also on topics like social justice, on the workforce?

“In several parts of the world the credibility and the reputation of the Church as a moral leader and as a leader in general, is growing and I think this is encouraging. This may be due to the fact that other leaders, other kinds of leadership, probably, are not as prominent and as credible and as visible.”

Business and faith can inspire each other – one thing the Jubilee of Entrepreneurs certainly brought to light.

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Adapted by Jacob Stein

Produced by Andreas Thonhauser, Camera by Federico Mantova, Sergio Natoli