“Whoever has received from the divine bounty a large share of temporal blessings, whether they be external and corporeal, or gifts of the mind, has received them for the purpose of using them for the perfecting of his own nature, and, at the same time, that he may employ them as the steward of God’s Providence for the benefit of others.”
Rerum Novarum
1891
Click on all the following to view larger images of some of the artifacts in this Collection connected to Pope Leo XIII.
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- Pope Leo XIII: A Signed Photograph
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- Leo XIII: Missal Page Turner
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- Leo XIII Pen & Pencil–Pencil Portuib
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- Leo XIII: Pen with Image of Leo XIII
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- Pope Leo XIII: Presentation Medal
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- Pope Leo XIII: Decorative Box with His Coat of Arms Containing His Red Slipper
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- Pope Leo XIII: A Hand-made Papal Slipper in a Decorative Box
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- Three Portions of White Cassock of Leo XIII
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- Roman Collar Worn by Leo XIII
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- Glove Without Fingers Belonging to Pope Leo XIII
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- Pope Leo XIII: An Amice
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- Leo XIII Wallet with Contents Inside
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- Pope Leo XIII: Vintage Mirror & Brush Set
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- Biscuit Tin Commemorating the Death of Pope Leo XIII and the Election of St. Pius X, Dated 1903
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- Printer’s Block With the Image of Pope Leo XIII Coat of Arms
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- Chalice Commemorating 50th Year of Leo XIII Priesthood
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- Chalice Commemorating 50th Year of Leo XIII Priesthood: Coat of Arms
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- Chalice Commemorating 50th Year of Leo XIII Priesthood
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- Chalice Commemorating 50th Year of Leo XIII Priesthood
Leo XIII & Rerum Novarum
The face of the modern Church took shape under Leo XIII. He expanded the role of nuncios, giving them precedence over local bishops. He exercised tight control over bishops’ conferences. Most importantly he came to be seen as the chief teacher of Catholicism, publishing eighty-six encyclicals, eleven alone on Mary and the rosary which lead him to be known as the rosary pope. The most famous of his encyclicals, Rerum Novarum in 1891, established him as the worker’s pope as he examined the evils of capitalism and insisted upon a just wage, dignity for workers and families and workers’ rights to organize. Rerum Novarum was considered to be the best Catholic social teaching of its time, a serious effort to articulate a Christian ethic for an industrial era, (becoming and remaining) the starting point for all Catholic social teaching.
