Leo XIII and the history of the Papacy of the 19th Century
Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci was a Jesuit priest from Italy. He was the sixth pope of the nineteenth century, reigning from 1878-1903.
CONTENTS
1. Background and Early Career
1. Background and Early Career
Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci was born in the city of Carpineto Romano in 1810. His family was of the nobility, but they were poor.
Vincenzo studied in the Jesuit College in Viterbo until 1824. Then the family relocated to Rome to be with their mother whilst she was dying. From that point, he attended the Jesuit Collegium Romanum.
At age 18, he entered the Jesuit order. He studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. In 1834, he gave a presentation on papal judgments. It caught the attention of Vatican officials.
In 1836, Vincenzo received three doctorates in Rome:
- His doctorate in theology
- His doctorate in civil law
- His doctorate in Canon Law
Vincenzo was ordained a priest in 1837 by Cardinal Vicar Carlo Odescalchi.
Pope Gregory XVI appointed Pecci as Papal Legate (provincial administrator) to Benevento. It was a papal province. The main problems were bandits, the Mafia, and a decaying economy.
At age 33, Pope Gregory XVI named Pecci as the Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium and named him as Archbishop.
From 1846 to 1877, Pecci served as the Archbishop of Perugia. He was considered popular and successful. He developed several activities in support of various Catholic charities.
In 1853, Pecci was elevated to the College of Cardinals.
During the 1870s, Pecci portrayed the church as upholding the human dignity of working people.
In 1877, Pope Pius IX appointed Pecci as Camerlengo.
Note. The Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church is an office of the papal household that administers the property and revenues of the Holy See.
2. Election as Pope
On February 7, 1878, Pope Pius IX died.
The Conclave was called. On their third vote, Pecci won.
It was generally believed that, due to his age and health, the papacy of Pecci would be somewhat brief. In other words, he was expected to be a transitional pope.
Note. A transitional pope is one that is elected with the expectation that he will accomplish very little and die within a few short years. Electing a transitional pope is a conclave’s way of deferring change for a few years. Transitional popes of the 19th century include Leo XII and Leo XIII.
Upon his election, Pecci revealed that he would assume the name of “Leo” in honor of Pope Leo XII.
Following the conclave, John Henry Newman is reported to have commented on many favorable aspects of Leo XIII.
3. Signs of Change
1. The Culture War in Germany
Germany was rife with a culture war called the Kulturkampf. It was a seven-year political conflict, spanning from 1871 through 1878. It was waged between the Catholic Church in Germany led by Pope Pius IX and the Kingdom of Prussia led by chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
On the very day of his election, Leo wrote the German emperor, sharing his wish for peace. Otto von Bismarck met the papal delegates in Germany.
In the years that followed, Leo and Otto von Bismarck were able to gradually unwind the Kulturkampf. Finally in 1878, Germany and the Vatican were officially at peace.
A sort of “honeymoon” era ensued. Most of the offensive “Falk” laws were abolished, and the Kulturkampf was ended.
2. A new Vision of Church-State Relations
In 1885, Leo promulgated an encyclical called Immortale Dei. The purpose of the encyclical was to counter the popular notion that the Catholic church was opposed to the good aims of society.
Leo said the Catholic church always promotes the good. That is because the good comes from God.
This was a complete reversal of the Syllabus of Errors, where Pius IX had asserted that a separation of Church and State was anathema.
Leo provided several cautionary notes:
- Those who oppose legitimate authority are guilty of treason.
- Rulers should protect religion. By this, he meant the Catholic church.
- There must be an orderly connection between Church and State, akin to the orderly connection between Soul and Body of a person.
Since the 16th century, Pius said there were great upheavals in European societies. Those upheavals resulting in errors such as freedom of thought and freedom of religion. When those errors become prevalent in society, the freedom of the Catholic church becomes restricted.
Leo wrote:
Our eyes are not closed to the times in which we live,
In sum, Immortale Dei represented a new vision of the Catholic church regarding Modernity. It is more tolerant. It is less caustic. Less reactionary.
The Catholic church as a promoter of liberty is a strong theme.
This encyclical was widely received as a good sign. In the U.S., it was received with optimism and as a sign of hope.
3. New Efforts in France
RALLIEMENT POLICY
From about 1870 until the end of the century, many Catholics longed for a return to the monarchy.
However, the Third Republic of France was more moderate.
Thus on February 16, 1892, pope Leo XIII promulgated an encyclical called Au milieu des sollicitudes. The main goal was that Catholics of France let go of the Monarchy and rally to the Third Republic, lest the Republic retaliate against them.
This came to be known as the “Ralliement” policy.
When Napoleon III fell from power in 1871, power was held by a Catholic and Monarchist majority.
A revolution, led by lower middle-class people who despised the Catholic church and monarchy, installed a communist government in Paris.
The 60-some Catholic churches in Paris were, many of them, turned into armories or clubs.
The French government decided to take Paris from the communist government in Paris. They marched in and executed 15,000-some communists.
So the communists retaliated by executing 74 people, including 20-some prests and the Archbishop of Paris.
The French government recaptured control. Then something of a religious revival ensued.
Catholics wanted a monarch back, but they disagreed as to who to give the crown to.
By 1876, the Republicans had gained control over the lower house, known as the “Chamber of Deputies.”
A leader said clericalism is the enemy of France. Then a program of harassment against clergy and religious orders ensued.
On May 15 of 1879, Jules Ferry, the Minister of education, introduced a law requirny primary education.
Non-authorized religious orders could not teach. Laws later came out permitting divorce.
CATHOLICS REFUSE TO LET GO OF THE MONARCHY
On the international scene, France didn’t want to seem to be anti-clerical.
France had a lot of colonies in a lot of nations. They had become a sort of mediator of the Middle East
At the election of 1885, Albert De Mun was asked to lead a Catholic outreach toward the monarchy. But pope Leo discouraged it.
In 1890, pope Leo formally instituted the Ralliement policy (see above). Working through Cardinal De Lavigerie, he asked for closer cooperation with the government on five separate occasions.
At a dinner party he hosted for Naval Officers, Cardinal De Lavigerie toasted the new government and the French navy. The loyalist Catholies were outraged!
In Feb 1892, Leo Issued a new encyclical, “Au milieu des sollicitudes” (see above), which called for French Catholics to give up their dream of a monarchy, join up with the Republic, and work to change any injusties in it.
Fr. Kline produced a French translationd an Amercin book about a Fr. Hector, a modern prest. But the translation was faulty and it provoked a strong reaction against the notion of the Catholic church accommodating a modern liberal government.
THE AFFAIR
In 1894, “The Affair” occurred. Captain Dreyfus was charged with selling military secrets to Germany, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The event was as big as the Watergate scandals in the U.S. in the 1970s.
Lower-class people drifted toward anti-Semitism, as Captain Dreyfus was Jewish. A Catholic newspaper published an anti-Semitic editorial piece.
A Catholic named George Picard was placed in charge of an intelligence agency. He found the “evidence” used to convict Captain Dreyfus was less than convincing. Picard’s bosses found out about his investigation and “reassigned” him to colonial duty.
Nonetheless, pressure mounted for a retrial.
The president of France died in the arms of another man’s wife. The next president was named Lubay. Some people pressured him to have Captain Dreyfus retried; others pressured him to not.
A new trial was held in June 1899. Captain Dreyfus was convicted again, but pardoned in September. In 1900, he was given general amnesty. In 1906 he was restored to the rank of Captain.
In the popular mindset, Catholic identity seemed inseparably linked with anti-Semitism and resistance to democracy.
Prime Minister Russo got a new law passed with crippled the Catholic school system and forced many members of religious orders to flee France.
Russo was succeeded by Combes, who was violently anti-clerical. He closed roughly 10,000 Catholic schools in one year and dissolved more than 160 religious orders.
In 1905 an act of separation was passed, which dissolved the Concordat of 1801. This new law was France’s answer to Leo’s Ralliement policy. The effects of the law were as severe as the Kulturkompf in Germany.
Why this tragedy in France?
The intelligent people were not in charge of France. The Catholics were too divided to be able to cooperate with each other. The labeling of Catholics as anti-Semite was accurate but crippling.
By the turn of the century, to be a practicing Catholic was to risk your career.
4. Social Concerns
1. European Initiatives prior to Rerum Novarum
GERMANY
Baron Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler (1811–1877) was a German theologian and politician and bishop. He served as Bishop of Mainz.
In 1848, he began a series of talks on social concerns. He said property should be used for the common good, workers associations should be formed, and child labor should be banished.
His teachings became influential during the papacy of Leo XIII and his encyclical Rerum novarum (see below).
FRANCE
Adrien Adelbert de Mun (1841-1914) was a military veteran and prisoner of war.
He studied Catholic social teaching. Then he dedicated his life to supporting the working class. He succeeded in starting Catholic Workers clubs throughout France.
OVERALL
Overall, though, by the end of the 19th century, many blue-collar jobs were lost to the Catholic church.
2. The Knights of Labor
The Knights of Labor were founded by Uriah Smith Stephens (1821–1882) in 1869 on the East coast.
He conceived of it as a fraternal organization with secret rituals, focusing on individual personal and professional development.
By 1879, there were 1,300 local assemblies.
Stephens resigned in 1879 over disagreement with a proposed policy shift for the Knights of Labor. He was replaced as grand master of the knights by Terence V. Powderly (1849–1924).
Pounderly was Catholic, and over half the society was Catholic.
Many Catholic bishops were suspicious of the Knights of Labor due to their use of secrecy and deception.
In 1884 the Archbishop of Quebec condemned the Knights. But twelve American archbishops voted 10 to 2 against doing likewise in the United States.
In 1886, Cardinal James Gibbons (1834–1921) wrote to Rome, defending the Knights of Labor.
In 1887 he and Bishop John Ireland went to Rome to defend the knights to officials. Their arguments were structured along the lines of the following:
- It was not a secret society
- It was not hostile to Religion
- They had secrecy but only to protect themselves from attack
- They did not promoting violence
Cardinal Gibbons was asked what the consequences would be if the Catholic church were to ban the knights?
He replied with the following points:
- It would be false
- It would be unjust
- Peters Pence would suffer
- Many people would be lost to the Catholic church
- The Catholic church would be seen as hostile to laborers
Finally, after a year, they said the Knights “could be tolerated.”
Now the Catholic church was seen as a friend of the working man, The foundation was laid for support, later on, of labor unions.
3. Rerum Novarum (1891)
Rerum novarum is a Latin expression that means “of revolutionary change.” It is also the name of an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891.
We expect to publish a study of this document, and then link to that study here.
5. Conclusion
Pope Leo XIII faced many challenges. And he rose to meet them.
One historian called Leo the most significant pope within a 100+ year period.
Leo claimed a distinct place for the Catholic church. It was not within the old paradigm of marriage of throne and altar.
Rather, a renewal was occurring:
- Religious orders were revisiting their Constitutions
- Six Eucharistic Congresses were held
- Thomism was being revived
Leo took steps to enter into dialogue with the modern world.
Perhaps his greatest legacy is in the sphere of Social Justice, with his great encyclical of Rerum Novarum.
Leo’s successor was Pius X. Pius did not like modernism. He described it as “the sum of all heresies.”
19th CENTURY PAPACY
MAJOR ERAS:
- Prelude to the 19th Century Papacy – the Political Factors
- Prelude to the 19th Century Papacy – the Religious Factors
- The Papacy of Pius VII: 1800-1823
- The papacy of Leo XII: 1823-1829
- The papacy of Pius VIII: 1829-1830
- The papacy of Gregory XVI: 1831-1846
- The papacy of Pius IX: 1846-1878
- The papacy of Leo XIII: 1878-1903
SEE ALSO: References, Church History
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