The last Leo and the American Church

The last Pope Leo promoted both social justice and Thomism as part of his unified vision for the Church in the modern world.

When Cardinal Robert Prevost was introduced to the world this week as the new pope, he was introduced by a new name: Pope Leo XIV.

As with the names chosen by other pontiffs over the centuries, the choice of this name may offer some insight into the priorities that the incoming pope will have in his papacy.

The previous Pope Leo – Leo XIII, whose pontificate stretched from 1878 to 1903 – was a massive figure in the history of modern Catholicism, both worldwide and specifically in the United States.

Pope Leo XIII. Public domain.

His most famous encyclical, Rerum Novarum, has provided the foundation for Catholic social teaching over the last 135 years. He was pope during a period of tremendous missionary work and immigration, particularly within the United States. And he established the Catholic University of America in 1889 with his apostolic letter Magni Nobis Gaudii.

Leo XIII became pope during a moment of division within the Church worldwide and particularly in America, in which rapid and potentially revolutionary political and economic changes challenged both the dignity of man, made in the image and likeness in God, and his relationship to God and the world He created.

Cardinal Prevost’s selection of the name Leo suggests that he sees his pontificate in a similar mold, but with a key difference – Leo XIII viewed the Church in America through the lens of European challenges, while Leo XIV is an American and will likely have a more unfiltered view of his country of origin.

The former Leo’s handling of the “Americanist” controversy of the late 19th century demonstrates the tension between his desire to engage with modernity and his insistence on preserving Church authority and unity.

Political power had shifted dramatically in Europe during the second half of the 19^th century, with the rise of powerful new nation states such as modern Germany and Italy, and the decline of monarchies, particularly in France.

Although no longer a temporal ruler, Leo XIII was not merely a theologian and philosopher either; he was also a skilled diplomat. He worked to restore the Vatican’s influence in international affairs, reaching out to both Catholic and non-Catholic nations.

In the United States, Leo established diplomatic relations with the federal government and appointed bishops who could bridge the gap between European tradition and American realities.

His approach was both cautious and hopeful. He wanted the Church to grow in America, but not at the cost of adherence to the Magisterium. While still resolutely committed to defending the Church’s authority, Leo also recognized the need to engage with modern ideas and address the temporal concerns of the faithful living in Western democratic and industrial societies, lest they turn to illegitimate political or economic solutions.

He proposed to accomplish this primarily in two ways: reassertion of the primacy of St. Thomas Aquinas’ philosophy and an emphasis on social justice in the face of the problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, and the growing power of nation states.

Long an admirer of Aquinas, Leo called for the study of Thomism to become the core of Catholic education for both clergy and laity in his 1879 encyclical Aeterni Patris.

Leo believed that Thomism’s combination of faith and reason could provide the tools necessary to provide meaning and justice in an era when doubt and skepticism challenged traditional understandings of both. Neo-Thomism rejected both individualistic capitalism and totalitarian socialism. It reasserted the capacity of reason to comprehend reality, the transcendental moral order, and the certainty of faith.

It took a while for the philosophy to catch on. But after Pius X’s rejection of modernism in 1909, Thomism gradually began to dominate Catholic seminaries, colleges, and universities in the United States until, by the 1950s, over half the philosophers in these institutions identified themselves as Thomists. Thus, Leo shaped the moral framework of American Catholics through the Second Vatican Council.

Leo’s commitment to Thomism and his experience of political and economic turmoil on the continent shaped his vision of how to support American Catholics, most of whom were working class immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Italy, and eastern Europe.

These Catholics faced unique challenges – American Catholics lived in a society that prized individual liberty, democracy, and the separation of Church and state.

These values often clashed with the more traditional, hierarchical structures of the European Church. They also went against the proclivities of German bishops in the Midwest and some Irish bishops, like Archbishop Michael Corrigan of New York and Bishop Bernard McQuaid of Rochester, who preferred that American Catholics remain apart from their neighbors.

One of the most significant episodes demonstrating Leo XIII's influence in American labor matters was his indirect support for the Knights of Labor, an important early labor union in the late 19^th century.

The Knights of Labor - which included many Catholic members but was not exclusively Catholic - aimed to unite all workers, regardless of skill level, to advocate for an eight-hour workday, equal pay, and the abolition of child labor.

They did so in the hope that they could create a new, equitable society that would protect families.

Some American bishops, particularly Corrigan, were wary of the Knights. They feared the group’s secrecy and its associations with socialist or radical elements.

Other bishops, most notably James Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore, the leading figure in the American Church, supported the Knights, arguing that the organization was not violent, anti-Catholic, or socialist but rather a legitimate expression of workers seeking justice.

Leo XIII, influenced by Gibbons’s advocacy and consistent with the principles he would later articulate in Rerum Novarum, chose not to condemn the Knights in 1888. This decision helped protect American Catholics from being forced to choose between their Church and their livelihood.

Perhaps Leo’s most enduring contribution to the Church in the United States and elsewhere was providing the foundation for modern Catholic social teaching, most famously expressed in his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed the condition of the working classes during the Industrial Revolution.

Rerum Novarum rejected both unregulated capitalism and socialism. Leo affirmed the rights of workers to form labor unions, earn a just wage, and work in humane conditions. At the same time, he upheld the right to private property and warned against the dangers of class conflict and revolutionary ideologies. In doing so, he advocated for a role for the state in regulating the economy when absolutely necessary while cautioning against government overreach.

This encyclical had a profound impact on the American Church. At a time when American laborers – many of them Catholic immigrants – were working long hours for low pay in dangerous factories, Leo’s message offered moral support and legitimacy to the Catholic labor movement.

Catholic leaders in the United States began to speak more boldly on issues of social justice and the rights of workers, laying the foundation for future Catholic support for workers in the 20th century. This was seen, for example, in the work of Monsignor John Ryan, a Catholic University professor and member of the New Deal who used Leo’s concept of the “living wage” in Rerum Novarum as the basis for his work on the creation of a minimum wage.

But Leo did not always side with Gibbons and supporters. And labor was not the only issue that provoked serious division among American bishops.

Some bishops, like Gibbons and Archbishop John Ireland of St. Paul, believed that American ideals of democracy, religious liberty, and individual rights could be harmonized with Catholicism without compromising the faith. Also in this camp was John Keane, first rector of Catholic University and later archbishop of Dubuque.

Corrigan, McQuaid, and conservative German bishops from the Midwest vehemently disagreed. Rather than resolving their disagreements in North America, the faction constantly involved Rome in their fights, eventually leading Leo to appoint the first Apostolic Delegate to the United States, Francesco Satolli, in 1893.

Satolli was appalled by Keane and Ireland’s participation in the Parliament of the World’s Religions held in conjunction with Chicago’s World’s Columbian Exposition, believing it undermined the Church’s claim to divine truth.

His report gave Leo reason to worry about religious indifference within the American Church.

Three years later, a provocative introduction to the French edition of a biography on Father Isaac Hecker, the American founder of the Paulist order, led Leo to fear that some American Catholics were placing too much emphasis on individualism, minimizing traditional practices such as religious vows, and downplaying Church authority in favor of adapting to modern culture.

In 1899, he addressed these concerns in the apostolic letter Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae, sent to Cardinal Gibbons. This letter warned against what Leo perceived as a growing spirit of “Americanism.” While the letter did not name specific individuals, it was widely understood as a response to figures like Keane and Ireland.

The letter was not a direct condemnation of American Catholics, but it was a clear warning. Leo XIII affirmed that while cultural differences were understandable, all Catholics needed to remain faithful to the core teachings and disciplines of the Church.

This letter brought the so-called “Americanist controversy” to a head, though Gibbons and other “Americanist” bishops insisted that they had not promoted the errors Leo described.

This episode reflected the tension between Leo’s desire to engage with modernity and his insistence on preserving Church authority and unity. It also highlighted the challenge of applying universal Catholic teachings in a culturally diverse and rapidly changing world.

Pope Leo XIII’s papacy set the tone for the Church’s relationship with the modern world in the 20^th century. His promotion of Catholic social teaching laid the groundwork for later documents such as Quadragesimo Anno by Pius XI and Centesimus Annus by John Paul II. And his revival of Thomism influenced Catholic education and thought for decades.

Leo XIII promoted both social justice and Thomism as part of his unified vision for the Church in the modern world. But the 122 years since his death have demonstrated how difficult it is to have an identity rooted in both, particularly in the United States.

In choosing the name Leo, it is possible that the new pope hopes to remind Catholics of the Church’s claim to a timeless unity in Christ that must nevertheless operate in a time-bound world.