Pope Leo XIII
Encyclopedia
Pope Leo XIII born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital
family, was the 256th Pope
of the Roman Catholic Church
, reigning from 1878 to 1903. He was the oldest pope (reigning until the age of 93), and had the third longest pontificate, behind his immediate predecessor Pius IX and John Paul II.
He is known for intellectualism, the development of social teachings with his encyclical
Rerum Novarum
and his attempts to define the position of the Church with regard to modern thinking. He influenced Roman Catholic Mariology and promoted both the rosary and the scapular. He issued a record eleven encyclical
s on the rosary
, approved two new Marian scapular
s and was the first Pope to fully embrace the concept of Mary as mediatrix
.
, near Rome, he was the sixth of the seven sons of Count Ludovico Pecci and his wife Anna Prosperi Buzzi. From 1810 to 1818 he was at home with his family, "in which religion counted as the highest grace on earth, as through her, salvation can be earned for all eternity". Together with his brother he studied in the Jesuit College in Viterbo
, where he stayed until 1824. He enjoyed the Latin
language and was known to write his own Latin poems at the age of eleven.
In 1824 he and his older brother Giuseppe Pecci
were called to Rome where their mother was dying. Count Pecci wanted his children near him after the loss of his wife, and so they stayed with him in Rome, attending the Jesuit Collegium Romanum. In 1828, Giuseppe entered the Jesuit order, while Vincenzo decided in favour of secular clergy
.
He studied at the Academia dei Nobili, mainly diplomacy and law. In 1834 he gave a student presentation, attended by several cardinals
, on papal judgements. For his presentation he received awards for academic excellence, and gained the attention of Vatican officials. Cardinal Secretary of State
Luigi Lambruschini
introduced him to Vatican congregations and to Pope Gregory XVI
, who appointed Pecci on 14 February 1837, as personal prelate
even before he was ordained priest on 31 December 1837, by the Vicar of Rome
. He celebrated his first mass together with his priest brother Giuseppe. He received his doctorate in theology
in 1836 and doctorates of civil and Canon Law
in Rome also.
Shortly thereafter, Gregory XVI appointed Pecci as legate (provincial administrator) to Benevento
. The smallest of papal provinces, Benevento included about 20,000 people.
The main problems facing Pecci were a decaying local economy, insecurity because of widespread bandits, and pervasive Mafia
structures, who often were allied with aristocratic families. Pecci arrested the most powerful aristocrat in Benevento, and his troops captured others, who were either killed or imprisoned by him. With the public order restored, he turned to the economy and a reform of the tax system to stimulate trade with neighboring provinces.
Upon completion of the tax reforms, Gregory XVI appointed Pecci to be administrator of Spoleto
, a province with 100,000, and then Perugia
with 200,000 inhabitants.
His immediate concern was to prepare the province for a papal visitation in the same year. Pope Gregory visited hospitals and educational institutions for several days, asking for advice and listing questions. The fight against corruption continued in Perugia, where Pecci himself investigated several incidents. When it was claimed that a bakery was selling bread below the prescribed pound weight, he personally went there, had all bread weighed, and confiscated it if below legal weight. The confiscated bread was distributed to the poor.
, a position which guaranteed the Cardinal's hat after completion of the tour.
On 27 April 1843, Pope Gregory XVI appointed Pecci Archbishop
of Damiette and asked his Cardinal Secretary of State Lambruschini to consecrate him. Pecci developed excellent relations with the royal family and used the location to visit neighbouring Germany, where he was particularly interested in the resumed construction of the Cologne Cathedral
.
Upon his initiative, a Belgian College in Rome was opened in 1844, where 100 years later, in 1946, Pope John Paul II
would begin his Roman studies. He spent several weeks in England with Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, carefully reviewing the condition of the Catholic Church in that country.
In Belgium, the school question was then sharply debated between the Catholic majority and the Liberal
minority. Pecci encouraged the struggle for Catholic schools, yet he was able to win the good will of the Court, not only of the pious Queen Louise, but also of King Leopold I
, strongly Liberal in his views. The new nuncio succeeded in uniting the Catholics.
issued unlimited freedom for the press, which, after many years of restrictions, was highly welcomed and popular. In the following year, in 1848, revolutionary movements
developed throughout Western Europe including France
, Germany
and Italy
.
Pecci, who was highly popular in the first years of his episcopate, became now the object of attacks, both in the media and in his residence. The papal minister Rossi was assassinated and Pope Pius IX had to flee to Gaeta
. In the following months, Austrian, French and Spanish troops reversed the revolutionary gains, but at a price for Pecci and the Catholic Church, who could not regain their former popularity.
, a noted Thomist scholar, to resign his professorship in Rome and teach instead in Perugia. His own residence was next to the seminary, which aided daily contacts of the students with the de-facto head of the seminary, Archbishop Pecci.
, as Cardinal-Priest of S. Crisogono
. In light of continuing earthquakes and floods, he donated all resources for festivities to the victims. Much of the public attention turned on the conflict between the Papal States
and Italian nationalism, aiming at these states' annihilation so as to achieve the Unification of Italy.
, which became known as the First Vatican Council
, to take place in the Vatican on 8 December 1869, Pecci was likely to be well informed, since his brother Giuseppe had been named by the Pope to be one of the persons to prepare this event.
In his last years in Perugia, Pecci several times addressed the role of the Church in modern society. Pecci defined the Church as the mother of material civilization, because the Church upholds human dignity of working people, opposes the excesses of industrialization and developed large scale charities for the needy.
, Pope Pius IX
appointed him Camerlengo, so that he was obliged to reside in Rome. Pope Pius died on 7 February 1878, and during his closing years the Liberal press had often insinuated that the Italian Government should take a hand in the conclave
and occupy the Vatican
. However the Russo-Turkish War and the sudden death of Victor Emmanuel II (9 January 1878) distracted the attention of the government. The conclave proceeded as usual, and on the third ballot Cardinal Pecci was elected by forty-four votes out of sixty-one.
When he firmly re-asserted the scholastic
doctrine that science and religion co-exist, he required the study of Thomas Aquinas
and opened the Vatican Secret Archives
to qualified researchers, among whom was the noted historian of the Papacy Ludwig von Pastor
.
Leo XIII was the first Pope of whom a sound recording was made. The recording can be found on a compact disc of Alessandro Moreschi
's singing; a recording of his performance of the Ave Maria is available on the web. He was also the first Pope to be filmed on the motion picture camera. He was filmed by its inventor, W. K. Dickson, and blessed the camera while being filmed.
Leo XIII brought normality back to the Church after the tumultuous years of Pius IX. Leo's intellectual and diplomatic skills helped regain much of the prestige lost with the fall of the Papal States. He tried to reconcile the Church with the working class, particularly by dealing with the social changes that were sweeping Europe. The new economic order had resulted in the growth of an impoverished working class, with increasing anti-clerical and socialist sympathies. Leo helped reverse this trend.
While Leo was no radical in either theology or politics, his papacy did move the Church back to the mainstream of European life. Considered a great diplomat, he managed to improve relations with Russia, Prussia, Germany, France, England and other countries.
Pope Leo XIII was able to reach several agreements in 1896, which resulted in better conditions for the faithful and additional appointments of bishops. During the Fifth cholera pandemic
in 1891 he ordered the construction of a hospice
inside the Vatican. That building would be torn down in 1996 to make way for construction of the Domus Sanctae Marthae
.
His favorite poets were Virgil and Dante.
, in which he reminded the Russian
monarch of the millions of Catholics living in his empire, who would like to be good Russian subjects, provided their dignity is respected.
After the assassination of Alexander II, the Pope sent a high ranking representative to the coronation of his successor. Alexander III
was grateful and asked for all religious forces to unify. He asked the Pope to ensure that his bishops abstain from political agitation
. Relations improved further, when Pope Leo XIII, due to Italian considerations, distanced the Vatican from the Rome-Vienna-Berlin alliance and helped to facilitate a rapprochement between Paris and St. Petersburg.
, the anti-Catholic
Kulturkampf
in Prussia led to massive reprisals against the Church. Under Leo, compromises were informally reached and the anti-Catholic attacks subsided.
The Centre Party
in Germany represented Catholic interests and was a positive force for social change. It was encouraged by Leo's support for social welfare legislation and the rights of working people. Leo's forward-looking approach encouraged Catholic Action in other European countries where the social teachings of the Church were incorporated into the agenda of Catholic parties, particularly the Christian democratic
parties, which became an acceptable alternative to socialist parties. Leo's social teachings were reiterated throughout the 20th century by his successors.
stance, and continued to insist that Italian Catholics should not vote in Italian elections or hold elected office. In his first consistory
in 1879 he elevated his older brother Giuseppe
to the cardinalate.
or Salzburg
, two cities in Austria
, an idea which the Austrian monarch Franz Josef I
gently rejected.
in 1878. In British India, he established a Catholic hierarchy in 1886, and regulated some long-standing conflicts with the Portuguese authorities.
The United States at many moments in time attracted the attention and admiration of Pope Leo. He confirmed the decrees of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (1884), and raised James Gibbons, archbishop of that city, to the cardinalate in 1886.
American newspapers criticized Pope Leo because they claimed that he was attempting to gain control of American public schools. One cartoonist drew Leo as a fox unable to reach grapes that were labeled for American schools; the caption read "Sour grapes!"
an troops on the eve of the Battle of Chorrillos
during the War of the Pacific
in January 1881. The Chilean soldiers thus blessed then looted the cities of Chorrillos
and Barranco
, including the churches, and their Chaplains headed the robbery at the Biblioteca Nacional del Perú, where the soldiers ransacked various items along with much capital, and Chilean Priests coveted rare and ancient editions of the Bible that were stored there.
Despite this, one year later Chilean President Domingo Santa Marìa issued the Laicist Laws, which separated the Church from the State, this being considered a slap in the face for the Papacy.
on the abolition of slavery.
came to Uganda and other went to Tanganyika (present day Tanzania) and Rwanda.
(1869–1870), which had ended only eight years earlier. Leo issued some 46 apostolic letters and encyclical
s dealing with central issues in the areas of marriage and family and state and society.
, the theology of Thomas Aquinas
. On 4 August 1879, Leo promulgated the encyclical Aeterni Patris (“Eternal Father”) which, more than any other single document, provided a charter for the revival of Thomism—the medieval theological system based on the thought of Aquinas—as the official philosophical and theological system of the Roman Catholic Church. It was to be normative not only in the training of priests at church seminaries but also in the education of the laity at universities.
, he described the importance of scriptures for theological study. It was an important encyclical for Catholic theology and its relation to the Bible, as Pope Pius XII pointed out fifty years later in his encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu.
into the Catholic Church in 1879. He opposed efforts to Latinize the Eastern Rite Churches, stating that they constitute a most valuable ancient tradition and symbol of the divine unity of the Catholic Church.
Leo XIII is credited with great efforts in the areas of scientific and historical analysis. He opened the Vatican Archives and personally fostered a twenty-volume comprehensive scientific study of the Papacy by Ludwig von Pastor
, an Austrian historian.
, became known as the Pope of the Immaculate Conception
because of the dogmatization in 1854. Leo XIII, in light of his unprecedented promulgation of the rosary
in eleven encyclicals, was called the Rosary Pope. In eleven encyclicals on the rosary he promulgates Marian devotion. In his encyclical on the fiftieth anniversary of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, he stresses her role in the redemption of humanity, mentioning Mary as Mediatrix
and Co-Redemptrix
.
Leo XIII worked to encourage understanding between the Church and the modern world, though he preferred a cautious view on freedom of thought, stating that "is quite unlawful to demand, defend, or to grant unconditional freedom of thought, or speech, of writing or worship, as if these were so many rights given by nature to man". Leo's social teachings are based on the Catholic premise, that God is the Creator of the world and its Ruler. Eternal law commands the natural order to be maintained, and forbids that it be disturbed; men's destiny is far above human things and beyond the earth.
His encyclicals changed the Church's relations with temporal authorities, and, in the 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum
, for the first time addressed social inequality and social justice issues with Papal authority, focusing on the rights and duties of capital and labour. He was greatly influenced by Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler, a German bishop who openly propagated siding with the suffering working classes in his book Die Arbeiterfrage und das Chistentum. Since Leo XIII, Papal teachings expand on the rights and obligations of workers and the limitations of private property: Pope Pius XI
Quadragesimo Anno
, the Social teachings of Pope Pius XII
on a huge range of social issues, John XXIII Mater et Magistra
in 1961, Pope Paul VI
, the encyclical Populorum Progressio
on World development issues, and Pope John Paul II
, Centesimus Annus
, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Rerum Novarum. Leo XIII had argued that both capitalism and communism are flawed. Rerum Novarum introduced the idea of subsidiarity
, the principle that political and social decisions should be taken at a local level, if possible, rather than by a central authority, into Catholic social thought. A list of all of Leo's encyclicals can be found in the List of Encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII.
In addition, he beatified Gerard Majella
in 1893 and Edmund Campion
and Ralph Sherwin in 1886. He also approved the cult of Cosmas of Aphrodisia
.
, as all popes after him have been, but instead at the very ancient basilica of St. John Lateran, his cathedral church as Bishop of Rome, and a church in which he took a particular interest.
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
family, was the 256th Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, reigning from 1878 to 1903. He was the oldest pope (reigning until the age of 93), and had the third longest pontificate, behind his immediate predecessor Pius IX and John Paul II.
He is known for intellectualism, the development of social teachings with his encyclical
Encyclical
An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Catholic Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop...
Rerum Novarum
Rerum Novarum
Rerum Novarum is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on May 15, 1891. It was an open letter, passed to all Catholic bishops, that addressed the condition of the working classes. The encyclical is entitled: “Rights and Duties of Capital and Labour”...
and his attempts to define the position of the Church with regard to modern thinking. He influenced Roman Catholic Mariology and promoted both the rosary and the scapular. He issued a record eleven encyclical
Encyclical
An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Catholic Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop...
s on the rosary
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
, approved two new Marian scapular
Scapular
The term scapular as used today refers to two specific, yet related, Christian Sacramentals, namely the monastic and devotional scapulars, although both forms may simply be referred to as "scapular"....
s and was the first Pope to fully embrace the concept of Mary as mediatrix
Mediatrix
Mediatrix in Roman Catholic Mariology refers to the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a mediator in the salvation process. It is a separate concept from Co-Redemptrix....
.
Early life
Born in Carpineto RomanoCarpineto Romano
Carpineto Romano is a comune in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 60 km southeast of Rome.It was the birthplace of Pope Leo XIII....
, near Rome, he was the sixth of the seven sons of Count Ludovico Pecci and his wife Anna Prosperi Buzzi. From 1810 to 1818 he was at home with his family, "in which religion counted as the highest grace on earth, as through her, salvation can be earned for all eternity". Together with his brother he studied in the Jesuit College in Viterbo
Viterbo
See also Viterbo, Texas and Viterbo UniversityViterbo is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It is approximately 80 driving / 80 walking kilometers north of GRA on the Via Cassia, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and...
, where he stayed until 1824. He enjoyed the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
language and was known to write his own Latin poems at the age of eleven.
In 1824 he and his older brother Giuseppe Pecci
Giuseppe Pecci
Giuseppe Pecci S.J. was a Catholic Thomist theologian whose younger brother, Vincenzo, became Pope Leo XIII and appointed him a cardinal...
were called to Rome where their mother was dying. Count Pecci wanted his children near him after the loss of his wife, and so they stayed with him in Rome, attending the Jesuit Collegium Romanum. In 1828, Giuseppe entered the Jesuit order, while Vincenzo decided in favour of secular clergy
Secular clergy
The term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or members of a religious order.-Catholic Church:In the Catholic Church, the secular clergy are ministers, such as deacons and priests, who do not belong to a religious order...
.
He studied at the Academia dei Nobili, mainly diplomacy and law. In 1834 he gave a student presentation, attended by several cardinals
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
, on papal judgements. For his presentation he received awards for academic excellence, and gained the attention of Vatican officials. Cardinal Secretary of State
Cardinal Secretary of State
The Cardinal Secretary of State—officially Secretary of State of His Holiness The Pope—presides over the Holy See, usually known as the "Vatican", Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia...
Luigi Lambruschini
Luigi Lambruschini
Luigi Lambruschini was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in the mid nineteenth century.-Biography:...
introduced him to Vatican congregations and to Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...
, who appointed Pecci on 14 February 1837, as personal prelate
Prelate
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
even before he was ordained priest on 31 December 1837, by the Vicar of Rome
Cardinal Vicar
Cardinal Vicar is a title commonly given to the vicar general of the diocese of Rome for the portion of the diocese within Italy. The official title, as given in the Annuario Pontificio , is "Vicar General of His Holiness for the Diocese of Rome"...
. He celebrated his first mass together with his priest brother Giuseppe. He received his doctorate in theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
in 1836 and doctorates of civil and Canon Law
Canon law (Catholic Church)
The canon law of the Catholic Church, is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code and principles of legal interpretation. It lacks the necessary binding force present in most modern day legal systems. The academic...
in Rome also.
Provincial administrator
Benevento
Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...
. The smallest of papal provinces, Benevento included about 20,000 people.
The main problems facing Pecci were a decaying local economy, insecurity because of widespread bandits, and pervasive Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
structures, who often were allied with aristocratic families. Pecci arrested the most powerful aristocrat in Benevento, and his troops captured others, who were either killed or imprisoned by him. With the public order restored, he turned to the economy and a reform of the tax system to stimulate trade with neighboring provinces.
Spoleto
Spoleto is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome.-History:...
, a province with 100,000, and then Perugia
Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
with 200,000 inhabitants.
His immediate concern was to prepare the province for a papal visitation in the same year. Pope Gregory visited hospitals and educational institutions for several days, asking for advice and listing questions. The fight against corruption continued in Perugia, where Pecci himself investigated several incidents. When it was claimed that a bakery was selling bread below the prescribed pound weight, he personally went there, had all bread weighed, and confiscated it if below legal weight. The confiscated bread was distributed to the poor.
Nuncio to Belgium
In 1843, Pecci, only thirty-four years old, was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to BelgiumApostolic Nuncio to Belgium
The Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium is the holder of a diplomatic position within the Catholic Church, who acts as Ambassador of the Holy See to the Belgium.-History:Diplomatic relations between the Belgian state and the Holy See began in 1835...
, a position which guaranteed the Cardinal's hat after completion of the tour.
On 27 April 1843, Pope Gregory XVI appointed Pecci Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of Damiette and asked his Cardinal Secretary of State Lambruschini to consecrate him. Pecci developed excellent relations with the royal family and used the location to visit neighbouring Germany, where he was particularly interested in the resumed construction of the Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in Cologne, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and is a World Heritage Site...
.
Upon his initiative, a Belgian College in Rome was opened in 1844, where 100 years later, in 1946, Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
would begin his Roman studies. He spent several weeks in England with Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, carefully reviewing the condition of the Catholic Church in that country.
In Belgium, the school question was then sharply debated between the Catholic majority and the Liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
minority. Pecci encouraged the struggle for Catholic schools, yet he was able to win the good will of the Court, not only of the pious Queen Louise, but also of King Leopold I
Leopold I of Belgium
Leopold I was from 21 July 1831 the first King of the Belgians, following Belgium's independence from the Netherlands. He was the founder of the Belgian line of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha...
, strongly Liberal in his views. The new nuncio succeeded in uniting the Catholics.
Papal assistant
Pecci was named papal assistant in 1843. He first achieved note as the popular and successful Bishop of Perugia from 1846 to 1877. In 1847, Pope Pius IXPope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
issued unlimited freedom for the press, which, after many years of restrictions, was highly welcomed and popular. In the following year, in 1848, revolutionary movements
Revolutions of 1848
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...
developed throughout Western Europe including France
French Revolution of 1848
The 1848 Revolution in France was one of a wave of revolutions in 1848 in Europe. In France, the February revolution ended the Orleans monarchy and led to the creation of the French Second Republic. The February Revolution was really the belated second phase of the Revolution of 1830...
, Germany
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...
and Italy
Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states
The 1848 revolutions in the Italian states were organized revolts in the states of Italy led by intellectuals and agitators who desired a liberal government. As Italian nationalists they sought to eliminate reactionary Austrian control...
.
Pecci, who was highly popular in the first years of his episcopate, became now the object of attacks, both in the media and in his residence. The papal minister Rossi was assassinated and Pope Pius IX had to flee to Gaeta
Gaeta
Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....
. In the following months, Austrian, French and Spanish troops reversed the revolutionary gains, but at a price for Pecci and the Catholic Church, who could not regain their former popularity.
Provincial council
Pecci called a provincial council, in order to reform the religious life in his dioceses. He invested in the enlargement of the seminary for future priests and in new and prominent professors, preferably Thomists. He called on his brother Giuseppe PecciGiuseppe Pecci
Giuseppe Pecci S.J. was a Catholic Thomist theologian whose younger brother, Vincenzo, became Pope Leo XIII and appointed him a cardinal...
, a noted Thomist scholar, to resign his professorship in Rome and teach instead in Perugia. His own residence was next to the seminary, which aided daily contacts of the students with the de-facto head of the seminary, Archbishop Pecci.
Charitable activities
Pecci developed several activities in support of Catholic charities: He founded homes for homeless boys and girls, and for elderly women. Throughout his dioceses he opened branches of a Bank, Monte de Pieta, which focused on low-income people and provided low interest loans. He created soup-kitchens, which were run by the Capuchins. In the consistory of 19 December 1853, he was elevated to the College of CardinalsCollege of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church.A function of the college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory. It also convenes on the death or abdication of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor...
, as Cardinal-Priest of S. Crisogono
San Crisogono
San Crisogono is a church in Rome dedicated to the martyr Saint Chrysogonus.-History:The church was one of the tituli, the first parish churches of Rome...
. In light of continuing earthquakes and floods, he donated all resources for festivities to the victims. Much of the public attention turned on the conflict between the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
and Italian nationalism, aiming at these states' annihilation so as to achieve the Unification of Italy.
Defence of the papacy
Pecci defended the papacy and its claims. When Italian authorities expropriated convents and monasteries of Catholic orders, turning them into administration or military buildings, Cardinal Pecci protested but acted moderately. When the Italian state took over Catholic schools, Pecci, fearing for his theological seminary, simply added all secular topics from other schools and opened the seminary to non-theologians. The new government in addition to the expropriations levied taxes on the Church and issued legislation, according to which all Episcopal or papal utterances are to be approved by the government before their publication.Organizing the First Vatican Council
Pope Pius IX announced an ecumenical councilCatholic Ecumenical Councils
Catholic Ecumenical Councils include 21 councils over a period of 1700 years. While definitions changed throughout history, in today's understanding Ecumenical Councils are assemblies of Patriarchs, Cardinals, residing Bishops, Abbots, male heads of religious orders and other juridical persons, ...
, which became known as the First Vatican Council
First Vatican Council
The First Vatican Council was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This twentieth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, held three centuries after the Council of Trent, opened on 8 December 1869 and adjourned...
, to take place in the Vatican on 8 December 1869, Pecci was likely to be well informed, since his brother Giuseppe had been named by the Pope to be one of the persons to prepare this event.
In his last years in Perugia, Pecci several times addressed the role of the Church in modern society. Pecci defined the Church as the mother of material civilization, because the Church upholds human dignity of working people, opposes the excesses of industrialization and developed large scale charities for the needy.
Camerlengo
In August 1877, on the death of Cardinal Filippo de AngelisFilippo de Angelis
Filippo de Angelis was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as both Archbishop of Fermo from 1842 and Camerlengo from 1867 until his death. Angelis was elevated to the cardinalate in 1839.-Biography:...
, Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
appointed him Camerlengo, so that he was obliged to reside in Rome. Pope Pius died on 7 February 1878, and during his closing years the Liberal press had often insinuated that the Italian Government should take a hand in the conclave
Papal conclave
A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishop of Rome, who then becomes the Pope during a period of vacancy in the papal office. The Pope is considered by Roman Catholics to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Roman Catholic Church...
and occupy the Vatican
Apostolic Palace
The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, which is located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Sacred Palace, the Papal Palace and the Palace of the Vatican...
. However the Russo-Turkish War and the sudden death of Victor Emmanuel II (9 January 1878) distracted the attention of the government. The conclave proceeded as usual, and on the third ballot Cardinal Pecci was elected by forty-four votes out of sixty-one.
Papacy
As soon as he was elected to the papacy, Leo XIII worked to encourage understanding between the Church and the modern world.When he firmly re-asserted the scholastic
Scholasticism
Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics of medieval universities in Europe from about 1100–1500, and a program of employing that method in articulating and defending orthodoxy in an increasingly pluralistic context...
doctrine that science and religion co-exist, he required the study of Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
and opened the Vatican Secret Archives
Vatican Secret Archives
The Vatican Secret Archives , located in Vatican City, is the central repository for all of the acts promulgated by the Holy See. The Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, having primal incumbency until death, owns the archives until the next appointed Papal successor...
to qualified researchers, among whom was the noted historian of the Papacy Ludwig von Pastor
Ludwig von Pastor
Ludwig Pastor, later Ludwig von Pastor, Freiherr von Campersfelden , was a German historian and a diplomat for Austria. He became one of the most important Roman Catholic historians of his time and is most notable for his History of the Popes...
.
Leo XIII was the first Pope of whom a sound recording was made. The recording can be found on a compact disc of Alessandro Moreschi
Alessandro Moreschi
Alessandro Moreschi was the most famous castrato singer of the late 19th century, and the only castrato of the classic bel canto tradition to make solo sound recordings.-Life:...
's singing; a recording of his performance of the Ave Maria is available on the web. He was also the first Pope to be filmed on the motion picture camera. He was filmed by its inventor, W. K. Dickson, and blessed the camera while being filmed.
Leo XIII brought normality back to the Church after the tumultuous years of Pius IX. Leo's intellectual and diplomatic skills helped regain much of the prestige lost with the fall of the Papal States. He tried to reconcile the Church with the working class, particularly by dealing with the social changes that were sweeping Europe. The new economic order had resulted in the growth of an impoverished working class, with increasing anti-clerical and socialist sympathies. Leo helped reverse this trend.
While Leo was no radical in either theology or politics, his papacy did move the Church back to the mainstream of European life. Considered a great diplomat, he managed to improve relations with Russia, Prussia, Germany, France, England and other countries.
Pope Leo XIII was able to reach several agreements in 1896, which resulted in better conditions for the faithful and additional appointments of bishops. During the Fifth cholera pandemic
Fifth cholera pandemic
The fifth cholera pandemic was the fifth major outbreak of cholera that occurred in the years 1881-1896 starting in India. The 1892 outbreak in Hamburg, Germany was the only major European outbreak; about 8,600 people died in Hamburg. Although generally held responsible for the virulence of the...
in 1891 he ordered the construction of a hospice
Hospice
Hospice is a type of care and a philosophy of care which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms.In the United States and Canada:*Gentiva Health Services, national provider of hospice and home health services...
inside the Vatican. That building would be torn down in 1996 to make way for construction of the Domus Sanctae Marthae
Domus Sanctae Marthae
The Domus Sanctæ Marthæ is a building completed in 1996 adjacent to Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City built during the reign of Pope John Paul II...
.
His favorite poets were Virgil and Dante.
Russia
Pope Leo XIII began his pontificate with a friendly letter to Tzar Alexander IIAlexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
, in which he reminded the Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
monarch of the millions of Catholics living in his empire, who would like to be good Russian subjects, provided their dignity is respected.
After the assassination of Alexander II, the Pope sent a high ranking representative to the coronation of his successor. Alexander III
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
was grateful and asked for all religious forces to unify. He asked the Pope to ensure that his bishops abstain from political agitation
Agitator
An agitator is a person who actively supports some ideology or movement with speeches and especially actions. The Agitators were a political movement as well as elected representatives of soldiers, including the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell, during the English Civil War. They were also known...
. Relations improved further, when Pope Leo XIII, due to Italian considerations, distanced the Vatican from the Rome-Vienna-Berlin alliance and helped to facilitate a rapprochement between Paris and St. Petersburg.
Germany
Under Otto von BismarckOtto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
, the anti-Catholic
Anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed against Catholicism, and especially against the Catholic Church, its clergy or its adherents...
Kulturkampf
Kulturkampf
The German term refers to German policies in relation to secularity and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, enacted from 1871 to 1878 by the Prime Minister of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck. The Kulturkampf did not extend to the other German states such as Bavaria...
in Prussia led to massive reprisals against the Church. Under Leo, compromises were informally reached and the anti-Catholic attacks subsided.
The Centre Party
Centre Party (Germany)
The German Centre Party was a Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. Formed in 1870, it battled the Kulturkampf which the Prussian government launched to reduce the power of the Catholic Church...
in Germany represented Catholic interests and was a positive force for social change. It was encouraged by Leo's support for social welfare legislation and the rights of working people. Leo's forward-looking approach encouraged Catholic Action in other European countries where the social teachings of the Church were incorporated into the agenda of Catholic parties, particularly the Christian democratic
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
parties, which became an acceptable alternative to socialist parties. Leo's social teachings were reiterated throughout the 20th century by his successors.
France
Leo XIII was the first Pope to come out strongly in favour of the French Republic, upsetting many French monarchists. In his relations with the Italian state, Leo XIII continued the Papacy's self-imposed incarceration in the VaticanPrisoner in the Vatican
A prisoner in the Vatican or prisoner of the Vatican is how Pope Pius IX described himself following the capture of Rome by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy on 20 September 1870. Part of the process of Italian unification, the city's capture ended the millennial temporal rule of the popes...
stance, and continued to insist that Italian Catholics should not vote in Italian elections or hold elected office. In his first consistory
Consistory
-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....
in 1879 he elevated his older brother Giuseppe
Giuseppe Pecci
Giuseppe Pecci S.J. was a Catholic Thomist theologian whose younger brother, Vincenzo, became Pope Leo XIII and appointed him a cardinal...
to the cardinalate.
Italy
However, in light of a hostile anti-Catholic climate in Italy, he continued the policies of Pius IX towards Italy, without major modifications. He had to defend the freedom of the Church against what Catholics considered Italian persecutions and attacks in the area of education, expropriation and violation of Catholic Churches, legal measures against the Church and brutal attacks, culminating in anticlerical groups attempting to throw the body of the deceased Pope Pius IX into the Tiber river on 13 July 1881. The Pope even considered moving his residence to TriesteTrieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
or Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
, two cities in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, an idea which the Austrian monarch Franz Josef I
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
gently rejected.
United Kingdom
Among the activities of Leo XIII that were important for the English-speaking world, the encyclical Apostolicæ Curæ of 1896 on the invalidity of the Anglican orders stand out as highly significant. Furthermore, Leo restored the Scottish hierarchyRestoration of the Scottish hierarchy
The Restoration of the Scottish hierarchy refers to the re-establishment of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland on 15 March 1878...
in 1878. In British India, he established a Catholic hierarchy in 1886, and regulated some long-standing conflicts with the Portuguese authorities.
United States
American newspapers criticized Pope Leo because they claimed that he was attempting to gain control of American public schools. One cartoonist drew Leo as a fox unable to reach grapes that were labeled for American schools; the caption read "Sour grapes!"
Chile
His role in South America will also be remembered, especially the pontifical benediction extended over ChileChile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an troops on the eve of the Battle of Chorrillos
Battle of Chorrillos
The Battle of Chorrillos, also known as the Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos, was the first of the two battles of the Lima Campaign during the War of the Pacific, and was fought on January 13, 1881. This battle is really a group of a smaller, yet fierce confrontations at the defensive strongholds...
during the War of the Pacific
War of the Pacific
The War of the Pacific took place in western South America from 1879 through 1883. Chile fought against Bolivia and Peru. Despite cooperation among the three nations in the war against Spain, disputes soon arose over the mineral-rich Peruvian provinces of Tarapaca, Tacna, and Arica, and the...
in January 1881. The Chilean soldiers thus blessed then looted the cities of Chorrillos
Chorrillos
Chorrillos is a district of the Lima Province in Peru and part of the city of Lima. It gets its name from the Spanish word for "trickle of water"...
and Barranco
Barranco
Barranco is one of 43 districts in Lima, Peru. Its current mayor is Jessica Vargas and its postal code is 04.The district is considered to be the city's most romantic and bohemian, being the home and working place of many of Peru's leading artists, musicians, designers and photographers...
, including the churches, and their Chaplains headed the robbery at the Biblioteca Nacional del Perú, where the soldiers ransacked various items along with much capital, and Chilean Priests coveted rare and ancient editions of the Bible that were stored there.
Despite this, one year later Chilean President Domingo Santa Marìa issued the Laicist Laws, which separated the Church from the State, this being considered a slap in the face for the Papacy.
Brazil
Pope Leo is also remembered for the First Plenary Council of Latin America held at Rome in 1899, and his encyclical of 1888 to the bishops of BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
on the abolition of slavery.
Evangelization
Pope Leo sanctioned the missions to eastern African. In 1879 Catholic missionaries associated with the White Father Congregation (Society of the Missionaries of Africa)White Fathers
The missionary society known as "White Fathers" , after their dress, is a Roman Catholic Society of Apostolic Life founded in 1868 by the first Archbishop of Algiers, later Cardinal Lavigerie, as the Missionaries of Our Lady of Africa of Algeria, and is also now known as the Society of the...
came to Uganda and other went to Tanganyika (present day Tanzania) and Rwanda.
Theology
The pontificate of Leo XIII was theologically influenced by the First Vatican CouncilFirst Vatican Council
The First Vatican Council was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This twentieth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, held three centuries after the Council of Trent, opened on 8 December 1869 and adjourned...
(1869–1870), which had ended only eight years earlier. Leo issued some 46 apostolic letters and encyclical
Encyclical
An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Catholic Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop...
s dealing with central issues in the areas of marriage and family and state and society.
Thomism
As Pope, he used all his authority for a revival of ThomismThomism
Thomism is the philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, his commentaries on Aristotle are his most lasting contribution...
, the theology of Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
. On 4 August 1879, Leo promulgated the encyclical Aeterni Patris (“Eternal Father”) which, more than any other single document, provided a charter for the revival of Thomism—the medieval theological system based on the thought of Aquinas—as the official philosophical and theological system of the Roman Catholic Church. It was to be normative not only in the training of priests at church seminaries but also in the education of the laity at universities.
Consecrations
Leo XIII performed a number of consecrations, at times entering new theological territory. His consecration of the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus presented theological challenges in consecrating non-Christians. Since about 1850, various congregations and States had consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart, and, in 1875, this consecration was made throughout the Catholic world.Scriptures
In his 1893 encyclical Providentissimus DeusProvidentissimus Deus
Providentissimus Deus, "On the Study of Holy Scripture", was an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on 18 November 1893.In it, he reviewed the history of Bible study from the time of the Church Fathers to the present, spoke against the errors of the Rationalists and "higher critics", and outlined...
, he described the importance of scriptures for theological study. It was an important encyclical for Catholic theology and its relation to the Bible, as Pope Pius XII pointed out fifty years later in his encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu.
Ecumenical efforts
Pope Leo XIII fostered ecumenical relations leading to the reintegration of the Armenian ChurchArmenian Catholic Church
|- |The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church sui juris in union with the other Eastern Rite, Oriental Rite and Latin Rite Catholics who accept the Bishop of Rome as spiritual leader of the Church. It is regulated by Eastern canon law...
into the Catholic Church in 1879. He opposed efforts to Latinize the Eastern Rite Churches, stating that they constitute a most valuable ancient tradition and symbol of the divine unity of the Catholic Church.
Theological research
Ludwig von Pastor
Ludwig Pastor, later Ludwig von Pastor, Freiherr von Campersfelden , was a German historian and a diplomat for Austria. He became one of the most important Roman Catholic historians of his time and is most notable for his History of the Popes...
, an Austrian historian.
Mariology
His predecessor, Pope Pius IXPope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
, became known as the Pope of the Immaculate Conception
Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, according to which the Virgin Mary was conceived without any stain of original sin. It is one of the four dogmata in Roman Catholic Mariology...
because of the dogmatization in 1854. Leo XIII, in light of his unprecedented promulgation of the rosary
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
in eleven encyclicals, was called the Rosary Pope. In eleven encyclicals on the rosary he promulgates Marian devotion. In his encyclical on the fiftieth anniversary of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, he stresses her role in the redemption of humanity, mentioning Mary as Mediatrix
Mediatrix
Mediatrix in Roman Catholic Mariology refers to the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a mediator in the salvation process. It is a separate concept from Co-Redemptrix....
and Co-Redemptrix
Co-Redemptrix
Co-Redemptrix, a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, refers to her role in the Redemption process.The concept of Co-redemptrix refers to an indirect or unequal but important participation by the Blessed Virgin Mary in redemption, notably: that she gave free consent to give life to the Redeemer, to...
.
Church and state
Leo XIII worked to encourage understanding between the Church and the modern world, though he preferred a cautious view on freedom of thought, stating that "is quite unlawful to demand, defend, or to grant unconditional freedom of thought, or speech, of writing or worship, as if these were so many rights given by nature to man". Leo's social teachings are based on the Catholic premise, that God is the Creator of the world and its Ruler. Eternal law commands the natural order to be maintained, and forbids that it be disturbed; men's destiny is far above human things and beyond the earth.
Rerum Novarum
His encyclicals changed the Church's relations with temporal authorities, and, in the 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum
Rerum Novarum
Rerum Novarum is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on May 15, 1891. It was an open letter, passed to all Catholic bishops, that addressed the condition of the working classes. The encyclical is entitled: “Rights and Duties of Capital and Labour”...
, for the first time addressed social inequality and social justice issues with Papal authority, focusing on the rights and duties of capital and labour. He was greatly influenced by Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler, a German bishop who openly propagated siding with the suffering working classes in his book Die Arbeiterfrage und das Chistentum. Since Leo XIII, Papal teachings expand on the rights and obligations of workers and the limitations of private property: Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
Quadragesimo Anno
Quadragesimo Anno
Quadragesimo Anno is an encyclical written by Pope Pius XI, issued 15 May 1931, 40 years after Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum. Unlike Leo XIII, who addressed the condition of workers, Pius XI discusses the ethical implications of the social and economic order...
, the Social teachings of Pope Pius XII
Social teachings of Pope Pius XII
Social teachings of Pope Pius XII refers to encyclicals, apostolic constitutions and speeches by Pope Pius XII on non-theological issues involving medicine, science, education, social justice, family and sexuality and occupations.-Medical theology:...
on a huge range of social issues, John XXIII Mater et Magistra
Mater et Magistra
"Mater et Magistra" is the encyclical written by Pope John XXIII on the topic of "Christianity and Social Progress". It was promulgated on May 15, 1961. The title means "mother and teacher", referring to the role of the church. It describes a necessity to work towards authentic community in order...
in 1961, Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
, the encyclical Populorum Progressio
Populorum Progressio
Populorum progressio is the encyclical written by Pope Paul VI on the topic of "the development of peoples" and that the economy of the world should serve mankind and not just the few...
on World development issues, and Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
, Centesimus Annus
Centesimus Annus
Centesimus Annus was an encyclical written by Pope John Paul II in 1991, on the hundredth anniversary of Rerum Novarum...
, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Rerum Novarum. Leo XIII had argued that both capitalism and communism are flawed. Rerum Novarum introduced the idea of subsidiarity
Subsidiarity (Catholicism)
Subsidiarity is an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. Political decisions should be taken at a local level if possible, rather than by a central authority...
, the principle that political and social decisions should be taken at a local level, if possible, rather than by a central authority, into Catholic social thought. A list of all of Leo's encyclicals can be found in the List of Encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII.
Canonizations and beatifications
He canonized the following saints:- 1881: Clare of MontefalcoClare of MontefalcoSaint Clare of Montefalco , also called Saint Clare of the Cross, was an Augustinian nun and abbess. Before becoming a nun, St. Clare was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis . She was canonized by Pope Leo XIII on December 8, 1881.-Life:She was born at Montefalco, in Umbria, likely in the...
(d. 1308), John Baptist de Rossi (1696–1764), and Lawrence of BrindisiLawrence of BrindisiSaint Lawrence of Brindisi, O.F.M. Cap., , born Giulio Cesare Russo, was a Catholic priest and a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin....
(d. 1619) - 1883: Benedict Joseph LabreBenedict Joseph LabreSaint Benedict Joseph Labré was a French mendicant, Franciscan tertiary and Roman Catholic saint.-Life:He was born in Amettes, near Arras in the north of France, the eldest of fifteen children of a prosperous shopkeeper, and was religious from a very early age. He was noted for performing public...
(1748–1783) - 1888: Seven Holy Founders of the Servite OrderServite OrderThe Servite Order is one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders. Its objects are the sanctification of its members, preaching the Gospel, and the propagation of devotion to the Mother of God, with special reference to her sorrows. The members of the Order use O.S.M. as their post-nominal...
, Peter ClaverPeter ClaverPeter Claver was a Jesuit who, due to his life and work, became the patron saint of slaves, Colombia and African Americans...
(1561–1654), John BerchmansJohn BerchmansSaint John Berchmans was a Jesuit seminarian and is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He is the patron saint of altar servers.-Early life:...
(1599–1621), and Alphonsus RodriguezAlphonsus RodriguezSaint Alphonsus Rodríguez was a Spanish Jesuit lay brother, now venerated as a saint. He was a native of Segovia. He is sometimes confused with Fr...
(1531–1617) - 1890: Blessed Giovenale AncinaGiovenale AncinaGiovanni Giovenale Ancina was an Italian priest, scholar and music composer, known also as an orator. He was beatified in the late nineteenth century....
(1545–1604) - 1897: Anthony ZaccariaAnthony Maria ZaccariaSaint Anthony Maria Zaccaria is an Italian saint.Anthony was born in the city of Cremona, Italy in 1502 to noble parents. When he was two his father died and he was brought up as an only child by his mother. At an early age, he took a private vow of chastity...
(1502–1539) and Peter FourierPeter FourierSaint Peter Fourier, C.R.S.A., was a French canon regular who is honored as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, who had served as a pastor in Mattaincourt , and who also helped to found a religious congregation of canonesses dedicated to the care of poor children...
(1565–1640) - 1900: John Baptist de la Salle (1651–1719) and Rita of CasciaRita of CasciaSaint Rita of Cascia is an Italian Augustinian saint.-Early life:St. Rita was born at Roccaporena near Spoleto, Umbria, Italy....
(1381–1457)
In addition, he beatified Gerard Majella
Gerard Majella
Saint Gerard Majella is a Roman Catholic saint. He is the saint whose intercession is requested for children , childbirth, mothers , motherhood, falsely accused people, good confessions, lay brothers and Muro Lucano,...
in 1893 and Edmund Campion
Edmund Campion
Saint Edmund Campion, S.J. was an English Roman Catholic martyr and Jesuit priest. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Protestant England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason by a kangaroo court, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn...
and Ralph Sherwin in 1886. He also approved the cult of Cosmas of Aphrodisia
Cosmas of Aphrodisia
Cosmas was Bishop of Aphrodisia and martyr. Born at Palermo, on the island of Sicily, and was appointed and ordained Bishop of Aphrodisia, ordained by Pope Eugene III. When the Saracans invaded the island and captured his see, Cosmas was seized and suffered martyrdom.-Notes:...
.
Audiences
- One of the first audiences Leo XIII granted was to the professors and students of the Collegio Capranica, where in the first row knelt in front of him a young seminarian, Giacomo Della Chiesa, his eventual successor Pope Benedict XVPope Benedict XVPope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922...
. - While on a pilgrimage with her father and sister in 1887, the future Saint Thérèse of Lisieux attended a general audience with Pope Leo XIII and asked him to allow her to enter the Carmelite order. Even though she was strictly forbidden to speak to him because she was told it would prolong the audience too much, in her autobiography, Story of a Soul, she wrote that after she kissed his slipper and he presented his hand, instead of kissing it, she took it in her own hand and said through tears, "Most Holy Father, I have a great favor to ask you. In honor of your Jubilee, permit me to enter Carmel at the age of 15!" Pope Leo XIII answered, "Well, my child, do what the superiors decide." Thérèse replied, "Oh! Holy Father, if you say yes, everybody will agree!" Finally, the Pope said, "Go... go... You will enter if God wills it" [italics hers] after which time two guards lifted Thérèse (still on her knees in front of the Pope) by her arms and carried her to the door where a third gave her a medal of the Pope. Shortly thereafter, the Bishop of Bayeux authorized the prioress to receive Thérèse, and in April 1888, she entered Carmel at the age of 15.
- While known for his cheerful personality, Leo also had a gentle sense of humor as well. During one of his audiences, a man claimed to have had the opportunity to see Pius IX at one of his last audiences before his death in 1878. Upon hearing the remarkable story, Leo smiled and replied, "If I had known that you were so dangerous to popes, I would have postponed this audience further".
Death
Leo XIII was the first Pope to be born in the 19th century. He was also the first to die in the 20th century: he lived to the age of 93, the longest living pope. At the time of his death, Leo XIII was the second-longest reigning pope, exceeded only by his immediate predecessor, Pius IX. Leo was not entombed in St. Peter's BasilicaSt. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
, as all popes after him have been, but instead at the very ancient basilica of St. John Lateran, his cathedral church as Bishop of Rome, and a church in which he took a particular interest.
External links
- The Life of Pope Leo XIII, His Supernatural Visions, St Michael Prayer, Rerum Novarum Summary and Encyclicals
- Pope Leo XIII texts and biography from the VaticanVatican CityVatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
- Pope Leo XIII, overview of pontificate
- Etexts of his encyclicals and other documents
- Pope Leo XIII: text with concordances and frequency list
- Life and Acts of Pope Leo XII (1883)