Habemus Papam: Thinking About Leo XIV's Choice of Name

Reflections on Rerum Novarum

We have a new Pope: Leo XIV.

As always, there will speculation about the new Pope’s choice of name. What message does he intend to send by becoming the fourteenth Pope named Leo?

My mind immediately went to the last Pope to bear that name: Leo XIII.

For those of us labor in the business and legal vineyards, Leo XIII is a very important figure. His papal encyclical, Rerum novarum, whose title literally means “of new things,” was devoted to Catholic perspectives on capital and labor. As such, it is generally regarded as the foundational document of modern Catholic social thought (CST). Importantly, like Catholic social thought generally, Rerum novarum speaks not only to Catholics but also to all persons of good will. As Pope Pius XI later put it, Leo’s “Encyclical, On the Condition of Workers, … had this special distinction that at a time when it was most opportune and actually necessary to do so, it laid down for all mankind the surest rules to solve aright that difficult problem of human relations called ‘the social question.’”

Interestingly, although the title of the encyclical invokes the “new things” of the late 19th Century, Pope Leo’s analysis of private property (5-9) seems far more concerned with property in an agrarian society (i.e., land) than with the burgeoning industrial society of the time.

I periodically teach a course on Catholic Social Thought and the Law. My thesis is that CST offers a rich framework for addressing business and legal problems through principles that emphasize human dignity, the common good, and economic justice. The first class session always focuses on Rerum novarum.

Assuming that Leo XIII’s vision of CST plays a least a partial role in the new Pope’s choice of name, it seems like an opportune moment to revisit Rerum novarum.

Major Themes

• Work and the economy, with special emphasis on the respective rights and duties of capital and labor.

• The nature of the common good and the obligation to promote it.

• The role of the state in society.