Pope Leo XIV: What’s in a name?

A pope’s chosen name usually offers a glimpse into the direction he intends to take. When Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis, it was clear that he sought to emulate Saint Francis of Assisi, a medieval monk known for his radical poverty, his ministry to the poor and the marginalized and his reverence for all creation.

During his reign, the world saw how Pope Francis guided his papacy filled with compassion, humility and a persistent call for environmental care and social justice.

In a recent issue of Vatican News, Pope Leo XIV explains his choice of name: “I chose to take the name Leo XIV. There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII, in his historic encyclical Rerum Novarum, addressed the social question in the context of the first great Industrial Revolution. In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another Industrial Revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.”

Pope Leo XIII led the Catholic Church from 1878 to 1903. As a transformative figure in Church history, his many contributions included his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, Latin for “Of New Things.”

This encyclical marked the birth of modern Catholic social teaching and addressed the profound changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution, especially the conditions of the working class. It offered a bold vision of social justice rooted in the dignity of the human person, setting the moral framework for how the Church would engage with modern economic and social realities.

The late 19th century was a period of immense upheaval all over the world. The Industrial Revolution had reshaped economies and societies, technological advancements and industrial growth, brought prosperity to some but also created vast inequalities.

Factory workers, including women and children, often worked long hours in dangerous conditions for meager wages. Urban poverty, unemployment and poor housing were widespread. There were two general competing ideologies. On one side was laissez faire capitalism, which championed free markets with little regulation. On the other side was Marxist socialism, which called for the abolition of private property and collective ownership of the means of production.

From the perspective of the Catholic Church, both systems had significant moral shortcomings.

Pope Leo XIII saw the urgent need for the Church to speak out to address the suffering of the poor and to offer a Christian alternative to the extremes of unbridled capitalism and revolutionary Marxist socialism.

The alternative that Pope Leo XIII advanced was Catholic Social Teaching as advocated in his encyclical Rerun Novarum.

This encyclical was considered revolutionary at that time. After more than a century, the core teachings of Rerum Novarum are still considered revolutionary, especially by those who believe in the theory of capitalism, free market and trickle-down philosophy.

This encyclical addresses the relationship between labor and capital, the rights and duties of workers and employers, the role of the State and the principles of social justice.

Among its key teachings is the dignity of labor, which affirms that work is not merely a commodity but a human activity that contributes to human fulfillment and social development.

Workers are not tools to be used and discarded but human beings with inherent dignity. As such, they deserve just wages, reasonable working hours and safe conditions.

Pope Leo XIII emphasized that the economy must serve the person and not the other way around. In a later encyclical, Pope Francis defined just wages as a living wage which would be sufficient to allow the average family to live a life of human dignity.

Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical warned against excessive government control but also emphasized that the State has a moral duty to intervene in the economy to ensure the common good. This includes enacting laws to protect workers, regulate working conditions and ensure that economic competition does not lead to exploitation.

In a short essay, Br. Michael Valenzuela FSC wrote: “The four great truths of Catholic Social Teaching are that God bestows everyone with inalienable dignity, that dignity and working for the common good are inseparable, that we become human and more like God through self-gift and solidarity and that the goods of the earth are meant to be used in such a way that no one goes in need. Seems that Pope Leo will be pushing this vision of humanity in response to the problems caused by the worship of wealth and technology as ends in themselves.”

It is very tragic to note that even after more than 130 years, Rerum Novarum remains profoundly relevant. The world continues to grapple with many of the same issues Leo XIII addressed in 1891: economic inequality, the rights of workers, the ethics of capitalism and the role of the state in promoting justice.

It reminds us that economic systems must always be measured against the needs of the human person. There must always be a balance between profit and people, between the right to own and the responsibility to share, between the freedom of markets and demands of justice.

As inequality exists and new forms of labor exploitation arise, we can expect Pope Leo XIV to challenge the faithful not to remain indifferent but to build a society based on Catholic Social Teaching.

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