Rerum Novarum

One of the key things to note about the new pope is his choice of his papal name: Leo XIV. His choice was clearly to connect his papacy with the long tradition of Catholic social teaching that began in earnest with his namesake Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum, first published in 1891.

Many consider Leo XIII the first “modern” Pope, because his papacy came at the very end of the nineteenth century, over 125 years ago, at a time when the world was going through a lot of change, much as it is doing today. Back then, the issues revolved around modernization, industrialization, economics, and especially the conflict between employers and labor. So in 1891, Pope Leo published the Encyclical Letter titled Rerum Novarum (literally “Of New Things) that focused on questions of the conditions of the working class and (“intended for wide or general circulation”) their relations with employers and owners).

This version has been edited to use inclusive language that makes the encyclical more understandable and accessible to North-American English-speaking readers.