Rerum Novarum

The virtues of justice and charity are essential for addressing social and economic inequalities.

In his encyclical letter Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII takes up the condition of the working classes and the challenges facing the world following the Industrial Revolution, focusing on the relationship between labor and capital, the rights of workers, and the role of the Church in promoting justice. Promulgated in 1891, this foundational text has shaped Catholic social teaching and influenced more than a century of the Church’s balanced approach to defending workers’ rights while upholding the right to private property and rejecting socialism.

Following the election of Robert Francis Prevost, who, as the 267th pope, took the name Leo XIV, there has been renewed interest in Rerum Novarum and the ways in which this groundbreaking encyclical may influence the pontificate of the first American pope. Just as Leo XIII spoke to a rapidly changing world in need of spiritual guidance and clear direction in this encyclical, today we face a world grappling with the life-changing effects of artificial intelligence and in desperate need of truth and charity.