The Catholic Church has a new Pope. Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, of the United States has been named as the 267th Pope, and will be known as Pope Leo XIV. The new Pope is the first American pontiff in history.
Born in Chicago, the 69-year-old is a seen as a reformer who worked in Peru as a missionary before being made an archbishop.
Who was Leo XIII?
Born Vincenzo Gioacchino Pecci, the last pontiff to go by the name Leo before the present Pope was Pope Leo XIII. Elected in 1878, he remained till his death in 1903. Socially conscious leader Leo XIII is remembered for tackling urgent social and economic problems of his day.
Issued in 1891, the encyclical Rerum Novarum (“Of New Things”) was his most important contribution. Catholic social teaching has its roots in this innovative paper. It covered subjects including social justice’s significance, employers’ obligations, the function of labor unions, and workers’ rights. Many see Leo XIII’s papacy as a watershed moment when the Church more directly interacted with the modern world and its intricate economic reality.
