On Thursday, Cardinal Robert F. Prebust was introduced to the world as the name of the Roman Catholic Church’s 267th Bible and the first American Pope.
For Catholic theologians, the importance of names was clear. The new Pope is tied to Pope Leo XIII, a fundamental figure in modern Catholic social education.
Leo XIII served as a pope from 1878 to 1903, covering the golden age of the United States and the second industrial revolution around the world. It was a time of labor abuse and exploitation – before minimum wage, attention to workplace safety, or mandated daily holidays.
Workers in Europe in particular were disillusioned with the church and the perception that it was on the side of the rich and elite, said Father Kenneth Himez, a retired Boston University theology professor who wrote and edited many books on Catholic social education.
“I heard from American bishops that if they come out against the unions and raise questions about workers’ rights, then that can turn too. [American Catholics] To the disillusioned members of the church,” Himes said.
To bridge the ditch, in 1891, Leo XIII used the Pope’s platform to provide the vigorous defense of union organisations and workers’ rights in his inventive recollection of “Rerum Novarum.”
In it, he denounced “the wealthy owners and all masters” and tried to benefit from the “the poor poor.” His writing began a last-day focus by successive popes on the lower classes, capitalism, and concentration of wealth and power in the hands of few.
“They’re also known as SJ James F. Keenan, Jesuit priest and professor of theology at Boston University,” said: “We have always had a long social tradition of the Church…but it was not until Pope Leo XIII that the Pope began the traditions necessary to deal with the conditions of the poor and the workers.”
Leo said that although moral attitudes about social justice were motivated, it was also a “pastoral” aimed at ensuring that the Catholic Church was in line with the social flow.
“Leo was concerned that the church would become an elite church rather than a working class church,” said Himes, and he wanted to avoid repeated French Revolution when the church was deemed to be monitored along with the nobility and monarch.
“If we encountered something we hadn’t learned anything, Leo was afraid that the church would not recover.”
Several popes explicitly honor Leo XIII’s writings.
In 1931, Pope Pius XI issued the regenerative “Quadragesimo Anno” or “40th Anniversary” to commemorate the release of Rerum Novarum, commemorating the expanded teachings of labor and “How should we recognize the human dignity of the worker.”
Pope Paul VI’s 1971 “Octogenima Adveniens” or “80th Anniversary” advocates for equality and deals with youth and women. He wrote that the law should recognize women’s “independence as a person and her equal right to participate in cultural, economic, social and political lives.”
In 1991, Pope John Paul II published “Centesimus Annus” or “Centennials,” writing about the devastating poverty of developing countries along with global economic, cultural and spiritual poverty caused by forces such as “consumerism.”
For Keenan, the “Leo” choice is similar and complements the previous Pope’s “Francis” choice. When he was elected in 2013, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergolio said he was honoring St. Francis of Assisi, who is known for his commitment to poverty.
“Francis was the one who cared for the poor, served them, raised money, visited and anointed them,” Leo said, “and defended their rights.”
The new Pope therefore showed his desire to build on Francis’ legacy.
“He chose what he was an advocate — and not only wanted to be with the poor, he chose someone to defend them,” Keenan added.
In her first speech on Thursday, standing on a balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican city, Pope Leo XIV praised the construction of the bridge and “a church that is always seeking peace, a church that is always seeking charity, a church that is always seeking charity, a church that is always seeking close to those who suffer.”
“He talked about how to proceed completely collectively,” said Keenan, who saw the new Pope background as an asset.
In addition to serving as bishop in Peru, Chicago-born Prevast was elected by his fellow priests to run Augustine’s religious order. In 2023, Francis appointed him the Chief of Diecastery for the Bishop. It oversees the selection of bishops around the world and monitors bishops’ performances.
“This administrative ability of the new Pope is extremely important, and it brings a part of the order that people were looking for, and does not rule out Pope Francis’ legacy, but it makes it more obvious,” Keenan said.
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