June 2026
Venezuela - AI effects on young workers - Magnifica Humanitas - Labor research in Asia - Women and diplomacy - IYCS celebrates 80 years
Friends,
In this issue, International YCW leaders address the ILO on the effects of AI on young workers and dialogue with labor researchers in the Philippines.
We present more resources on Pope Leo’s encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, including video from a research webinar on the subject featuring AI entrepreneur Premesh Chandran, Catholic Social Teaching expert, Br Bruce Duncan CSsR, and biblical scholar, Stuart Moran.
Natalia Núñez-Bargueño shares her research on the role of women in diplomacy, particularly Catholic women, during the 20th century while Sam Young shares the story of the emergence of the French YCW.
Stefan Gigacz argues for more synodal encounters between Church leaders and the leaders of international lay movements.
Finally, we recall that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the birth of the YCS as an international movement.
The Centre International Cardijn Team
PS Following the terrible earthquakes that have struck Venezuela this week, we send our condolences to all those who have lost friends and family members. We pray that you will find the strength and resilience to rebuild your homes and communities. Credit to the Venezuelan Observatory for the Dignity of Work for the above image.
Effects of AI on young workers
The report reminds us that AI is not neutral, we are reminded that the impact it has will depend on the choices we make as societies. Technology is deepening the inequality and insecurity, but it should contribute to decent work and human dignity.
As a movement of young workers from all over the world, we are deeply concerned that many young people are already entering a labour market marked by precarity, informality and uncertainty. We see AI and digitalization worsening this situation while workers are excluded from decision-making.
READ MORE
ILO Conference 2026: IYCW’s Statement on the Effects of AI on Young Workers & their Lives (IYCW)
Video & podcast: AI in light of Magnifica Humanitas
The June ACI webinar focused on Pope Leo’s new encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.
Malaysian entrepreneur, Premesh Chandran, co-founder of the online news site, Malaysiakini, and of Asia Mobiliti, a tech company working on transport solutions, and Catholic Social Teaching specialist, Fr Bruce Duncan CSsR, addressed a special webinar introducing Pope Leo’s new encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas.
WATCH THE VIDEO
EDITED VERSION
https://www.commonhome.tv/2026/06/24/ai-in-the-light-of-magnifica-humanitas/
PODCAST VERSION
https://www.commonhome.tv/podcasts/
Thanks to Matthew Howard and our partners at CommonHome.tv for the edited video and podcast.
IYCW ASPAC in labor research dialogue
On 8 June, 2026, the International YCW-ASPAC participated in a research dialogue organized by the Institute of Labor Studies (ILS) of the Department of Labor and Employment in Manila, Philippines.
The dialogue was part of a research project entitled “Workers’ Associations and Non-Traditional Labor Organizations: Exploring Avenues as Entry Points for Representation.” The study aims to understand how workers’ associations and other forms of worker organizations help workers represent their concerns and assert their rights.
During the discussion, the Institute of Labor Studies shared that union membership in the Philippines has continued to decline in recent years. This is mainly due to contractualization, outsourcing, and the growing number of workers in digital and platform-based jobs.
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IYCW ASPAC participates in labor research dialogue on workers organizations (IYCW Aspac)
Women and diplomacy
On June 24, the United Nations marks the International Day of Women in Diplomacy. The occasion invites us to celebrate the slow but visible increase of women in foreign ministries, embassies, and international negotiations, writes Natalia Núñez-Bargueño. Yet it also prompts a deeper question: what counts as diplomacy, and who gets recognised as a diplomatic actor?
That question lies at the heart of the European funded research project TheoFem which explores the international engagements of Catholic laywomen in the decades following the Second World War.
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Where do women feature in the history of diplomacy? (The Conversation)
History: God’s artisans
Life was hard for young workers in interwar France, writes Sam Young. Most left school at fourteen, beginning a life of exhausting, insecure and poorly paid industrial labour.
Things weren’t much better at home: working-class housing was overcrowded, public services were scarce, and alcohol abuse was rife. Poverty bred disaffection, and disaffection bred radicalism. In 1925, an insurgent Communist Party performed startlingly well in municipal elections, surrounding Paris with a ‘red belt’ of industrialised suburbs. To many political observers, social upheaval seemed inevitable.
To the Catholic Church, this was an unmissable opportunity. Catholicism had long been on the defensive in France, its power chipped away by secular republican governments. In 1905, the Church was formally split from the state, triggering a dramatic loss of funding and influence.
The renewal of religious faith during the First World War, however, allowed the Church to rebuild its standing in society, starting with the increasingly desperate working classes. In 1925, a Belgian priest named Joseph Cardijn established the Jeunesse ouvrière chrétienne (JOC, or Young Christian Workers), a movement aimed at converting working-class men and women aged fourteen to twenty-five.
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Sam Young, God’s artisans (History Workshop)
Shaking hands with the pope
On Thursday 21 May 2026, Pope Leo addressed 200 leaders of international Catholic lay movements, associations and communities in the Vatican’s Synod Hall, writes Stefan Gigacz. It was an excellent speech in which he addressed issues of governance that affect lay organisations.
What struck me, however, was the contrast between photographs of this event and so many photos of the Synod on Synodality that took place at the Vatican only a couple of years ago.
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IYCS celebrates 80 years
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