History in Colour: Pope Leo XIII

by Admin · Published January 31, 2024 · Updated January 29, 2024

A snapshot from the past, colourised exclusively for The Southern Cross

The social teachings of the Catholic Church have a long history, going straight back to the Gospels. But the pope who defined them for the modern age was Pope Leo XIII, seen here in a photo from 1887, nine years into his long reign.

His 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum (meaning “of revolutionary change”), or Rights and Duties of Capital and Labour, is regarded as the foundational text for all modern Catholic Social Teachings. It condemned “the misery and wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class” and supported the rights of trade unions.

Born as Gioacchino Pecci in 1810 into a family of nobility near Rome, he became pope on February 20, 1878. His 25-year papacy is the fourth-longest on record. It followed the longest reign (after St Peter’s traditional record), that of Pope Pius IX. So over a period of 56 years, from 1846 to 1903, there were only two popes. By comparision, the past 56 years have seen five pontiffs, including John Paul II’s 26-year-long reign,

When Pope Leo, known in Italy as Papa Leone XIII, died on July 20, 1903, at the age of 93, he was the oldest pope in office in modern history (Pope Agatho is said to have been 104 when he died in 681). Pope Benedict XVI lived two years longer, but renounced the papacy at the age of 85.

Leo XIII was initially buried in the grottos of St Peter’s basilica before his remains were transferred in 1924 to the basilica of St John Lateran, the papal cathedral.

Published in the November 2023 issue of The Southern Cross magazine