Pope Leo XIV honored the late Argentine businessman Enrique Shaw as one whose life demonstrates that “one can be both an entrepreneur and a saint” and that “economic efficiency and fidelity to the Gospel are not mutually exclusive.”
In a message to participants of the 31st Industrial Conference of Argentina, taking place Thursday in Buenos Aires, Leo emphasized the harmony between Shaw’s Christian faith and his business practices, which he said showed that Catholic social teaching “is not an abstract theory or an unworkable utopia but a possible path that transforms the lives of individuals and institutions by placing Christ at the center of all human activity.”
Support for just wages, worker formation
Shaw was born in 1921 at the Ritz Hotel in Paris into an elite Argentine family. Despite the comfort his upbringing could have afforded him, he chose a path of generosity, service, and deep humanity. He died at age 41 and was declared venerable by Pope Francis in 2021. His cause for beatification is now at an advanced stage in the Vatican.
During his short life, Shaw promoted fair wages, expanded formation programs, cared for workers’ health, and supported their families in concrete ways.
The pope noted that Shaw “did not conceive profitability as an absolute but as an important aspect to sustain a human, just, and solidarity-based company.”
Recalling that Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum was the “foundational act” of modern Catholic social teaching, he said it is evident that Shaw’s writings and decisions were shaped by that text. In Rerum Novarum, he explained, the Church denounced unjust labor conditions and affirmed strongly that “neither justice nor humanity can tolerate the requirement of such labor that the spirit is dulled by excessive work and the body overwhelmed by fatigue.”
‘The dignity of the worker continues to be violated’
The pope stressed that the encyclical’s insights — born in a time of major industrial transformation — retain “striking relevance in the globalized world we inhabit, where the dignity of the worker continues all too often to be violated.”
He also recalled that Shaw “knew the misunderstanding and persecution foretold by Christ for those who work for justice,” noting that he was imprisoned under the government of Juan Domingo Perón in May 1955.
“Later he faced illness, but he never stopped working or encouraging those around him. He offered his suffering to God as an act of love and, even amid pain, remained close to his workers,” the pope said.
For this reason, he proposed Shaw as a “model for our time” for all who work in the economic and labor sectors, insisting that holiness “must flourish precisely where decisions are made that affect the lives of thousands of families.”
“The world urgently needs entrepreneurs and leaders who, out of love for God and neighbor, work for an economy at the service of the common good,” he concluded.
A pioneer of Catholic social teaching in business
Shaw was a pioneer in applying Catholic social teaching in the corporate world, anticipating what is now known as corporate social responsibility. He held leadership positions in major companies, but his greatest legacy was the founding in 1952 of the Christian Association of Business Leaders (ACDE), which sought to promote an ethical business culture rooted in Christian values.
He maintained a respectful and close relationship with his employees, whom he regarded not as resources but as collaborators.
In 1957, Shaw was diagnosed with an aggressive and incurable cancer. He faced the illness with unshakable faith and serenity, continuing his work and apostolic commitments until his death on Aug. 27, 1962.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
