As artificial intelligence accelerates changes in the workplace, Cardinal Robert W. McElroy said the coming transformation of labor raises a fundamental question about the future of human work.
“Will there be meaningful work left?” the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington asked during his homily at a Labor Day Mass on Sept. 6, 2026 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington.
“And the answer to that is: No one knows,” he said.
The Mass, organized by the Catholic Labor Network, brought together parishioners, workers and representatives of organized labor for a celebration focused on the dignity of human labor, economic justice and workers’ rights.
Cardinal McElroy began by reflecting on the Scripture reading at the Mass from the Book of Genesis, telling worshippers the created world is a gift from God entrusted to humanity and people participate in its continuing development through their labor.
“When we are workers, we are co-creators with God,” he said.
The cardinal described work as a way people participate in creation, contribute to their communities and express something of themselves, even when the work itself can be difficult.
“Work is given to us as a way of self-expression, of our need, of our human need, to create, to contribute to, to build up here on this earth,” he said.
There is a dignity to human work that should never be damaged or undermined, the cardinal said.
That dignity, he said, became a defining concern of modern Catholic social teaching during the Industrial Revolution, when Pope Leo XIII issued his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum in response to low wages, dangerous working conditions, economic insecurity and the exploitation of workers.
Cardinal McElroy said the world is now approaching another economic transformation.
“Today, we are on the cusp of another revolution that will dramatically affect work in our world and the dignity of labor,” he said.
The cardinal said he recently joined other U.S. cardinals for discussions in Silicon Valley with leaders of artificial intelligence teams at companies on the cutting edge of the technology. Among the topics they discussed, he said, was the effect AI may have on the workforce, particularly when paired with increasingly capable robotics.
“The labor market is going to radically change in the next 20 years,” Cardinal McElroy said.
He predicted “tremendous dislocations of workers,” saying “millions of workers who have jobs now will not have those jobs 10 years from now.”
His comments came two days after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its August employment report, which showed uneven growth across industries. The economy added 162,000 jobs in August, while the unemployment rate remained at 4.1%. By comparison, the economy had added an average of just 31,000 jobs per month over the previous 12 months.
Manufacturing added 16,000 jobs in August, while construction employment increased by 22,000, including 8,000 jobs among nonresidential specialty trade contractors. The information sector, meanwhile, lost 23,000 jobs, including 8,000 in computing infrastructure, data processing, web hosting and related services. The report did not attribute those losses to artificial intelligence.
Tom Clark, a business agent and political director for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 26, represents the interests of union members before policymakers.
An electrician by trade, Clark advocates for the union before lawmakers in Richmond, Virginia, and Annapolis, Maryland, on issues including prevailing wages, workplace safety and local hiring. He attended the Mass as a board member of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, a regional labor federation.
In an interview, Clark said careers in the skilled trades can give workers room to grow into other roles, including safety, business ownership and advocacy.
He said local hiring is especially important when large projects are built in the region because the economic benefits can remain in the communities where the work is being done.
“That money stays here,” Clark said. “When they work here, they stay here.”
Matthew Eichner, a retired economist and parishioner at the Cathedral of St. Matthew, said changing economic conditions are also shaping the kinds of careers young people consider.
“There are a lot of people who have decided, for a variety of reasons that have to do with lifestyle as well as the state of the economy, that they want to go into that sort of a field where you get the opportunity to work with not just your mind, but also your hands,” Eichner said in an interview.
Companies themselves are increasingly investing in workforce training, he said, pointing to partnerships between manufacturers and community colleges that prepare students for skilled jobs employers are struggling to fill.
Eichner said he has urged his two adult children to recognize opportunities change from one generation to the next.
“The opportunity sets are always changing, and you need to live your own life and not be rushed along by the crowd,” he said.
Cardinal McElroy’s emphasis on the creative dimension of work was echoed by Jason Gilbert, a cathedral parishioner and software developer who is pursuing an MBA at The Catholic University of America.
Gilbert said he sees enormous potential in artificial intelligence and uses it extensively in his own work, but believes it may be less beneficial in some professions, particularly in work that “really requires human creativity.”
Gilbert said AI depends on the creativity and perspective people bring to it.
“Even the best creative work AI produces comes from what we give it,” he said.
“AI is just a tool and a machine,” Gilbert said. “It’s only regurgitating information that it was given.”
“You have to bring your creativity, your spirit, your dreams, your hopes and your beliefs to it, and then see how it responds,” he said. “AI is not going to give you beliefs. It is not going to give you faith. It is not going to give you human imagination.”
The prayers of the faithful reflected many of the same concerns, and included prayers for those unable to find work, people facing unsafe conditions or inadequate wages, workers in agriculture, manufacturing and public service, and union leaders representing workers.
Cardinal McElroy said workers must have a voice as governments, businesses and society confront decisions about artificial intelligence and automation.
“We, as a society, have to be at the table, seeking this vision of work and seeking to make sure that exploitation does not grow, and that the wealth of the country doesn’t increasingly go to fewer and fewer at the expense of the working class,” the cardinal said.
The challenge for labor, he said, is to prepare for changes with “tremendous repercussions for all workers.”
Preparation, he added, should include thoughtful structures to preserve “continued creation through labor” and help build up the human family.
“Let us do everything that we can to vindicate workers in this moment in which we live, and in the years which are going to come, which will transform human labor, that we might have a labor force and a labor opportunity that truly reflects the gift of God to us all, the call of God to us all, and the wonderful talents we have to build up the creation that God gave us in the Book of Genesis,” Cardinal McElroy said.
A National Hispanic Heritage Month Commemorative Mass will be celebrated by Washington Auxiliary Bishop Robert Boxie III on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, at 12:15 p.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 11007 Montgomery Road, Beltsville, Maryland.
A “Witness for Our Immigrant Neighbors” will be held on the feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows on Tuesday Sept. 15, 2026, beginning with a Mass celebrated by Washington Auxiliary Bishop Gary Studniewski at 10 a.m. at St. Peter’s Church on Capitol Hill, 313 Second Street, S.E., in Washington, D.C., followed by a procession to Congress. The events are being sponsored by the Dorothea Project, a Catholic women’s group that promotes Catholic social teaching. Local Catholics are invited to attend the Mass and join the procession in prayerful solidarity with immigrant, migrant and refugee neighbors to call for their humane and dignified treatment.
The Archdiocese of Washington is inviting members of the community to join the observance of the 112th World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. The celebration will begin with praying the rosary in multiple languages at 4:35 p.m. on the steps of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, 1725 Rhode Island Ave. N.W., in Washington, D.C., followed by Mass at 5:30 p.m., presided over by Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington. The theme for this year’s celebration, “Even Just One of These Children,” calls people to recognize, protect, and accompany children and families affected by migration and displacement, affirming their God-given dignity and the Church's commitment to welcome and support those who are most vulnerable.
