page_title: Pope Leo XIII
section_title: Theology
hierarchical_section_title: Pope Leo XIII / Papacy, 1878–1903 / Theology
caption_attribution_description: Copyright expired drawing of Guiseppe Pecci from 1872
context_page_description: Pope Leo XIII was the head of the Roman Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in 1903. He was the oldest pope, and had the third-longest confirmed pontificate, behind those of Pius IX and John Paul II.
  He is well known for his intellectualism and his attempts to define the position of the Catholic Church with regard to modern thinking. In his famous 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum, Pope Leo outlined the rights of workers to a fair wage, safe working conditions, and the formation of trade unions, while affirming the rights of property and free enterprise, opposing both socialism and laissez-faire capitalism. He influenced Mariology of the Catholic Church and promoted both the rosary and the scapular.
  Leo XIII issued a record of eleven papal encyclicals on the rosary, earning him the title as the "Rosary Pope". In addition, he approved two new Marian scapulars and was the first pope to fully embrace the concept of Mary as Mediatrix. He was the first pope to have never held any control over the Papal States, after they had been dissolved by 1870.
context_section_description: The pontificate of Leo XIII was theologically influenced by the First Vatican Council (1869–1870), which had ended only eight years earlier. Leo XIII issued some 46 apostolic letters and encyclicals dealing with central issues in the areas of marriage and family and state and society. He also wrote two prayers for the intercession of Michael the Archangel after he allegedly had a vision of Michael and the end times, but the story of the alleged vision may be merely apocryphal, as historians note that the story does not appear in any of his writings.
  Leo XIII also approved a number of Scapulars. In 1885, he approved the Scapular of the Holy Face, (also known as The Veronica) and elevated the Priests of the Holy Face to an archconfraternity. He also approved the Scapular of Our Lady of Good Counsel and the Scapular of St. Joseph, both in 1893, and the Scapular of the Sacred Heart in 1900.
caption: Giuseppe Pecci in 1872. At the urgent requests of the College of Cardinals, Leo XIII in 1879 elevated his brother, Giuseppe Pecci, a Jesuit and prominent Thomist theologian, into their ranks.[41]
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