Lentorama 2010: Two Millennia of Pointy Hats

Day 39: Leo XIII (1878-1903)

Leo is the third-longest serving pope in history, behind his predecessor Pius IX and John Paul II. He was also the oldest pope, dying in office at the age of 93. But as a young man of 24 he made a big splash in Vatican circles with a scholarly work on papal judgments, and upon meeting Gregory XVI he was made a papal prelate, even though Leo was not yet ordained. Once that was taken care of Leo began to serve in various posts, serving as the administrator of two papal provinces before being named papal nuncio to Belgium. He then served a tumultuous term as archbishop of Perugia, where he fought losing battles against the ascendent Italian state, which confiscated church property, taxed churches and took over Catholic schools.

Leo would return to Rome in 1877, when he named camerlengo, or chamberlain, of the church, the main administrative post in the church. He would serve in this post for less than a year, as he was quickly elected pope after the death of Piux IX.

One of Leo's first undertakings as pope was to bring together the conservative church with the modern, and increasingly secular, outside world. He especially focused on the relationship between the church and the growing numbers of the poor, who were more anti-clerical and more likely to support socialism. His skill as a diplomat helped normalize relations between the church - which was still reeling from losing control of the Papal States to the new Italian state - and most of the European powers (he still had issued with Italy, where anti-clerical sentiment still ran high).

Leo's greatest work may have been in his contributions to Catholic social thought, as he authored a number of documents trying to reconcile church teachings with modern political and economic theory. His encyclical Rerum Novarum was a landmark in the church's social teachings, discussing the relationship between labor and capital, the flaws of both communism and unfettered capitalism, and support for private property. While not radical, it did represent Leo's growing concern for the working poor, and served as the foundation for future church policy.

Upon his death, Leo was buried at St. John Lateran, making him the last pope not to be buried at St. Paul's.