The article analyses some key points of the maior papal social encyclicals from the point of view of labour law. It finds that all the most importanr rights recognised by labour law are in accordance with encyclicals, and often have been upheld by encyclicals before being embedded in national employment laws. The extraordinary convergence between labour law and social encyclicals is explained by the common foudations of both, which is the dignity of the worker as human being. In conclusion, the Autor express the hope that the dialogue between labour law and social encyclicals might continue for the mutual benefits of both, and the better protection of the workers