Our new pope’s first words to the faithful were: “May peace be with you all.” His namesake, Pope Leo XIII (1873-1903), was a peacemaker who reconciled the Church with France, Russia, Germany and Great Britain. He also published the encyclical “Rerum Novarum” on workers’ rights. This foundational document for Church social teaching emphasized the dignity of workers and condemned the dangers of unchecked capitalism and socialism. Pope Leo XIII also opened the Vatican secret archives to scholars, founded the Vatican observatory to demonstrate the Church’s openness to science and was the first pope to be filmed on a motion picture camera.
The first pope who took the name Leo became pope in 440. Known as “Leo the Great,” the Roman aristocrat was a peacemaker who is most well-known for meeting Attila the Hun in 452 and successfully managing to dissuade him from invading Italy. He was also a doctor of the Church, promoted the doctrine of papal primacy (the authority of the pope over other bishops), and wrote 96 sermons that have been passed on to us today. A historic last (at least for now) was Pope Leo X (1513-1521). He was the last pope not to have been a priest at the time of his election to the papacy.