‘Manual work, artistic creation, intellectual work, even liturgical celebration itself, have long been linked to one another, especially during the Christian era. In the so called ‘archaic’ civilisations, work was both creative and contemplative ability. This ability is still present nowadays in some experiences and realities of work, above all in crafts, but it does not represent the usual way in which contemporary generations live their work. The common mentality in the Western world and in other regions of the world, considers work to be a moment of non-life. Work, no longer made fertile by contemplation, has become mechanical and is perceived as an alienation of oneself. The awareness of the aim, on the other hand, belongs to the historical memory of European people. Unlike the contempt towards the fatigue of work which flourished in Greek and Roman times, the tradition of Christian Europe has underlined the dignity of work, which – in its fatigue – becomes the creative activity of man and participation in the Creation. This represents a task for this end of the millennium: work can have a meaning because human existence has a meaning.’