Pope Leo XIII

Pope Leo XIII was the first pope to try and bring the Roman Catholic Church into harmony with the modern world. He continued the efforts of his predecessor Pius IX to gain independence for the Vatican from Italy. It could be argued that Christianity Survived through Pope Leo XIII because of his political and social work.
Pope Leo XIII’s real name was Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci. He was born on March 2, 1810, in Carpineto, Italy. Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci was the sixth of the seven sons of Count Lodovico Pecci. When he was eight he and his brother, Giuseppe were sent to study at the Jesuit school in Viterbo. After Leaving the Jesuit school he took up the study of theology. In 1832 he obtained the doctorate of theology. He then went to the Academy of Noble Ecclesiastics, and started studying canon and civil law at the Sapienza University. He began his career as an official of the civil administration of the Papal States, and was appointed priest in 1837. He was promoted often; in 1840 he was made governor of Perugia. In 1843 he was made Nuncio to Belgium, and Bishop of Perugia in 1846.
In 1853, he was made Cardinal. Cardinal Pecci was not in like by the papal court because as nuncio he earned the disapproval of the Metternich. He did, however, prove himself to be a good bishop by creating many practical reforms for his diocese that he would later promote as pope. During the hard years of King Victor Emmanuel’s occupation of the Papal States cardinal Pecci showed his geniuses’. As a jurist and a statesman he would never ignore a problem but also never start a conflict. Leo was very successful in smoothing over difficulties, and in establishing good relations with almost all the powers.
Pius IX called Pecci to Rome a year before he died and appointed him to Camerlengo. Camerlengo is the cardinal who administers the Church between the death of the pope and the election of his successor. Pius IX died about a year later, on February 6, 1878. Cardinal Pecci was elected in his place on February 20, 1878. This was a surprise because there had been a tradition that Camerlenghi did not become popes.
Pope Leo XIII inherited a lot of problems from Pius IX. During the 1870’s and 1880’s, the Kingdom of Italy had a hostile attitude toward the Papacy. The law of Guarantees was violated repeatedly. Over the next few years, it got worse: processions and outdoor services were banned, the bishop suffered from constant government interference, tithes were withheld, priests were drafted into the army, and less of them were allowed to involve themselves in education. Catholics wanted Leo XIII to form his own party to take on the government on its own ground. Leo XIII refused and told the Catholics that if they wished to voice their opinions they could do so by voting. He thought that anything more would mean the recognition of the Italian state. However, as the Pope, he could speak out for the church, which he did regularly, although, he didn’t take the approach of his predecessor Pius IX. Leo XIII pointed out that this rejection of the church by the state was causing lawlessness and trouble and that if Italy would return to the Catholic folds, then all the problems would go away.
With other nations, Pope Leo XIII developed a new approach. The religious face of Europe was changing because of the Franco-Prussian war. The Catholics were no longer in control of Prussia; the Protestants were. This shift caused the Catholic areas of Germany, like Bravia, to become concerned. Once he was involved, Leo started to seek reconciliation. People were losing confidence in his anticlerical policy, which was proving to be unsuccessful anyways. It caused furious protests, riots and some blood to be shed. This gave him an excuse to get rid of it. By 1880, all of the anticlerical laws had been rescinded.
Eventually the war ended and, as it did, France was reviving its anticlericalism. At the end of the war, there was the Paris Commune where the Archbishop of Paris and several others established churchmen were executed by firing squad. During the 1880’s and 1890’s, primary education was secularized and seminarist were no longer excused form military service, secondary schools for girls were established, and divorce was permitted. Schools for girls were huge because the education of young women had always been the Church’s responsibility. With France and the Church separated Leo XIII used his encyclicals to urge the French government to put an end to its hostility. According to Leo, the Church and the state were not incompatible but they were complementary and needed to work together. Leo told his people that they needed to work with the government and if they thought that something was anti-Christian then they should handle the problem through legislation, not a revolt. Unfortunately, this didn’t really work and France barely escaped a dictatorship. However, in 1893, when France was governed by a moderate set of ministers things looked better for the Church. Another one of Leo’s encyclicals assured the French Catholics that a bishop could support a republican candidate as long as the candidate gave him a guarantee of religious freedom. This then led to the establishment of the Catholic Republican Party. Which caused the majority to shift toward the center of the political spectrum.
It might surprise you that before Leo was stressing how the Church and state should work together he actually believed in their separation. When it came to American interests and problems Leo believed in the separation of Church and state. Leo’s view on Church and state were that they were not in conflict but in harmony. Two years later, in 1892, Leo issued his encyclical, Au Milieu des Sollicitudes. This officially marked the start of his Ralliement policy, in which he tried to get rid of anti-Clericalism. According to Leo, the Church and state are equal in there respective spheres and the state is founded to secure “the tranquility of the public.” In order to achieve tranquility the citizen is able to make a living, know and serve god, and save his soul. It is the Church’s job to be watchful of the activity of the state that hinders mans ability to achieve his salvation. So once a law goes beyond the limits of the states authority it is the Church’s duty to fight it and make sure that Christian ideals pervade in laws and institutions of the state.
Leo also says that the Church cannot bless states that are hostile toward the Church. The Church must also help uphold states that are built on true principles and help bring those principles into effect.
Pope Leo XIII’s most significant work was his sociological work. Leo was the first pope to open his eyes to the fact that the world was changing. The world was moving into and industrial age. He recognized that that this new working class was the responsibility of the church. His strategy was to reopen communication between them and introduce programs of social action. Leo sponsored fourteen congresses and supervised the formulation of the catholic trade unions. These had a lot of success.
Ones of Pope Leo XIII’s greatest accomplishments, was his encyclical Rerum Novarum. It was published in 1891. It basically was a response to the Socialist Manifesto and the Das Kapital Leo wrote:
A small number of very rich men have been able to lay upon the teeming masses of the laboring poor a yoke which is very little better than slavery itself…. The Conflict, now raging, derives from the vast expansion of industrial pursuits and the wondrous discoveries of science; from changed relations between masters and workmen; from enormous fortunes of some few individuals and the utter poverty of the masses; from the increased self reliance and closer mutual combination of the working classes; and also, finally from the prevailing moral degeneracy.
Leo emphasized that class and inequality would always be present. He also condemned Marxist theory of class war. According to Leo every worker had the right to demand a fair wage and even go on strike. It was the business of the state to ensure that contracts between employers and employees were correct that they regulate hours and safety conditions. He also said that the only way to eliminate social abuses was through Christian charity. Therefore, the only way to industrial peace was through religion and without it would be godless anarchy.
Leo had many principles but some of his more practical principles included Christian virtue, charity, and family. When it comes to Christian virtues, Leo’s point was nothing that anyone does will really be effective unless their lives are regulated by Christian virtues; it is God alone who can rescue society and he will never desert the Church. Leo also said that a main foundation of Christian life is charity, without this other virtues do not exist. He also said that family is “the cradle of society” this is because parents have the right to teach their children so that they too can achieve a union with God.
Pope Leo died on July 20, 1903. Leo proved that the pope could still be a strong force in the world. He gave the Papacy a new image and a great prestige, one greater then it had enjoyed for many centuries through his political and social work.

Bibliography
1.Norwich, John Julius. Absolute Monarchs, A History Of The Papacy. New York City: Random House Inc, 2011.
2. Hughes, Philip. The Popes’ New Order, A systematic Summary of the Social Encyclicals and Addresses, from Leo XIII to Pius XII. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1944
3. Thomas, Samuel. "The American Press and the Church-State Pronouncements of Pope Leo XIII." U.S. Catholic Historian. 1. no. 1 (1980): 17-36. http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=0735-8318(1980)1:1<17:TAPATC>2.0.CO;2- Y&origin=openly;oclc;worldcat.org (accessed February 29, 2012).
4. Abell, Aaron. "'Rerum Novarum' and Henry George, The Reception of Leo XIII's
Labor Encyclical in America, 1891-1919 ." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology. 6. no. 4 (1947): 572-573. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3483765?seq=1http://www.jstor.org/stable/3483765?seq=1.

--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. Philip Hughes, The Popes’ New Order, A systematic Summary of the Social Encyclicals and Addresses, from Leo XIII to Pius XII. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1944), 1-2.
[ 2 ]. John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs, A History Of The Papacy. (New York City: Random House Inc, 2011), 417.
[ 3 ]. Philip Hughes, The Popes’ New Order, A systematic Summary of the Social Encyclicals and Addresses, from Leo XIII to Pius XII. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1944), 1-2.
[ 4 ]. John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs, A History Of The Papacy. (New York City: Random House Inc, 2011), 417.
[ 5 ]. John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs, A History Of The Papacy. (New York City: Random House Inc, 2011), 418.
[ 6 ]. Philip Hughes, The Popes’ New Order, A systematic Summary of the Social Encyclicals and Addresses, from Leo XIII to Pius XII. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1944), 3-5.
[ 7 ]. John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs, A History Of The Papacy. (New York City: Random House Inc, 2011), 419.
[ 8 ]. John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs, A History Of The Papacy. (New York City: Random House Inc, 2011), 420.
[ 9 ]. Samuel Thomas, "The American Press and the Church-State Pronouncements of
Pope Leo XIII." U.S. Catholic Historian. 1. no. 1 (1980): 28, accessed February 29, 2012, http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=07358318(1980)1:12.0.CO;2-Y&origin=openly;oclc;worldcat.org.
[ 10 ]. John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs, A History Of The Papacy. (New York City: Random House Inc, 2011), 417
[ 11 ]. Samuel Thomas, "The American Press and the Church-State Pronouncements of
Pope Leo XIII." U.S. Catholic Historian. 1. no. 1 (1980): 28, accessed February 29, 2012, http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=07358318(1980)1:12.0.CO;2-Y&origin=openly;oclc;worldcat.org.
[ 12 ]. Philip Hughes, The Popes’ New Order, A systematic Summary of the Social Encyclicals and Addresses, from Leo XIII to Pius XII. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1944), 131-132.
[ 13 ]. Philip Hughes, The Popes’ New Order, A systematic Summary of the Social Encyclicals and Addresses, from Leo XIII to Pius XII. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1944), 133.
[ 14 ]. John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs, A History Of The Papacy. (New York City: Random House Inc, 2011), 421.
[ 15 ]. John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs, A History Of The Papacy. (New York City: Random House Inc, 2011), 421-422.
[ 16 ]. Aaron Abell, "'Rerum Novarum' and Henry George, The Reception of Leo XIII's
Labor Encyclical in America, 1891-1919 ." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology. 6. no. 4 (1947): 572-573, accessed April 3, 2012, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3483765?seq=1http://www.jstor.org/stable/3483765?seq=1.
[ 17 ]. John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs, A History Of The Papacy. (New York City: Random House Inc, 2011), 422.
[ 18 ]. Philip Hughes, The Popes’ New Order, A systematic Summary of the Social Encyclicals and Addresses, from Leo XIII to Pius XII. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1944), 133-134.
[ 19 ]. John Julius Norwich, Absolute Monarchs, A History Of The Papacy. (New York City: Random House Inc, 2011), 422.