Sowers of peace and joy.

Recent events on the world stage give us reason to hope that people, simmering under despotic rule in Iraq and Ukraine or in sham democracies like Lebanon will, perhaps, for the first time, be able to exercise the rights, given by their Creator. With free speech comes free votes, and with a free press comes free minds: but what about free markets? It is clear that democratic societies must not only be peaceful and plural, but also productive.

The personal prelature of Opus Dei has formed its members in virtues that incorporate them into the Church, and into their societies as well. The themes and issues discussed in Toronto last November, during the second annual conference entitled, "Sowers of Peace and Joy: The Message of St. Josemaria Escriva at Work in the Developing World," seem even more pertinent given the headlines of the day.

The presenters at the conference were varied and eclectic. The two featured speakers could hardly be more dissimilar: Jesus P. Estanislao, a Harvard trained economist and Margaret A. Ogola, the director of a hospice in Kenya for children living with AIDS; the former, adept at discussing the finer points of international monetary policy, the latter, at home tending the orphaned children of the AIDS-ravaged African continent. Yet despite their vastly different resumes, their attitudes towards work and prayer were instructively similar.

Margaret A. Ogola's address, which commenced the conference, was given the evening of November 15, 2004. The atmosphere was quite fraternal, and Roman collars were as conspicuous as large families. Ogola captivated her crowd: it was a moving personal account of her experiences as a doctor fighting AIDS in Africa. An author, perhaps best known for her book, The River and The Source, she used her narrative skills to great effect as she related many heart-rending stories of death and survival in harrowing circumstances, a convert to Catholicism, hers is a faith, tested, and as the director of a hospital for children, she has witnessed both miracles and tragedies.

The Philippine Legion of Honor recipient, Jesus P. Estanislao, gave the conference's other major address. He emphasized the need for a culture of industrious citizens grounded in a theology of work. Drawing upon his own impressive credentials as a policy adviser and economic scholar, he maintained that, in both emerging and established economies, the human person is not respected when he is not allowed to contribute his talents or his time. Guided by the insights of the Catholic faith, both employer and employee can recognize the dignity of the person as both a beloved child of God and a productive member of society. This is not mere piety, but pragmatism. As the last century has shown, economies (and societies) that do not respect the human person cannot thrive.

The speakers of this conference provided an important insight into the Christian concept of daily work. The twentieth century vividly illustrated that the dignity of the person is something that neither Socialism nor Communism can protect. The glorification of "the worker" is a rhetorical trope which veils and legitimizes the brutality which every atheist ideology inevitably engenders. Although a conscientious Capitalism can accommodate man's infinite worth, the market on its own cannot correct man's vices. But, as Estanislao and others so convincingly maintain, a man's worth and his work do not need to be bifurcated.

Stephen Tardif is currently studying Literature, and Christianity and Culture at St. Michaels College at the University of Toronto.