Editing Pope Leo XIII (section)

== Papacy (1878–1903) ==
=== Election ===
{{Main|1878 papal conclave}}

[[File:The story of the greatest nations, from the dawn of history to the twentieth century - a comprehensive history, founded upon the leading authorities, including a complete chronology of the world, and (14775157511).jpg|thumb|left|180px|Depiction of Leo XIII's papal coronation – image c. 1900]]
[[File:Leo XIII.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Portrait depiction of Leo XIII's papal coronation. He is wearing a [[Papal tiara]]]]
[[Pope Pius IX]] died on 7 February 1878,<ref name=Oreilly /> In the conclave, the cardinals faced varied questions and discussed issues like [[church-state relations (Catholic Church)|church–state relations]] in Europe, specifically Italy; divisions in the church; and the status of the First Vatican Council. It was also debated that the conclave be moved elsewhere, but Pecci decided otherwise in his capacity as the camerlengo. On 18 February 1878, the conclave assembled in Rome. Cardinal Pecci was elected on the third ballot and chose the name Leo XIII.<ref name=Oreilly /> He was crowned on 3 March 1878.

During the conclave, he secured his election on the third scrutiny with 44 out of 61 votes, more than the requisite two-thirds majority. While the 1878 conclave was characterized by fewer political influences than in previous conclaves due to a variety of European political crises, it was generally believed that the long papacy of the conservative Pius IX led many of the cardinals to vote for Pecci because his age and health created the expectation that his papacy would be somewhat brief.<ref name=EB>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Leo (popes)/Leo XIII |volume= 16 |last1= Hutton |first1= Arthur Wollaston |author1-link= Arthur Wollaston Hutton |last2= Bryant |first2= Margaret | pages = 437&ndash;439 |short= 1}}</ref> Following the conclave, [[John Henry Newman]] is reported to have said: "In the successor of Pius I recognize a depth of thought, a tenderness of heart, a winning simplicity, and a power answering to the name of Leo, which prevent me from lamenting that Pius is no longer here."<ref name=EB/> In the conclave, Pecci was perceived as the main "''[[papabile]]''" candidate; however, Cardinals Flavio Chigi and [[Tommaso Martinelli]] were also considered as potential candidates. But some cardinals who opposed Pecci, and were alarmed at the rising votes he was securing, banded together to cast their ballots for Cardinal [[Alessandro Franchi (cardinal)|Alessandro Franchi]]; however, Franchi secured no votes in the final ballot that saw Pecci duly elected. Allegedly, those who were dedicated to thwarting his election were Cardinals [[Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano]], [[Pietro Giannelli]], Chigi, Lorenzo Ilarione Randi, [[Carlo Sacconi]], [[Raffaele Monaco La Valletta]], [[Luigi Amat di San Filippo e Sorso]], and [[Johann Baptist Franzelin]]. It was also suggested that, before his death, Pius IX heavily favored Cardinal [[Luigi Bilio]] to succeed him, and while many of the cardinals created by the late pope intended to vote for Bilio to honor the man that elevated them in the first place, they feared that voting for an ultra-conservative could potentially evoke a veto from one of the European powers and stall the election more than was necessary. To that end, there had been early talks about Austria possibly [[Jus exclusivae|vetoing]] Bilio; however, this never occurred.<ref name=EB/> Before the conclave, Cardinals Domenico Bartolini, Monaco, Bilio, [[Henry Edward Manning]], [[Lorenzo Nina]], and Franchi (proposed by Pecci's opponents) all agreed on supporting Pecci's candidacy, also determining that the next pope needed to be an Italian. Both Manning and [[Edward Henry Howard]] agreed to persuade the foreign cardinals to back Pecci's candidacy.<ref name=BT/><ref name=EB/>

Upon his election, he announced that he would assume the name "Leo" in memory of [[Pope Leo XII]] due to his admiration for the late pope's interest in education and his conciliatory attitude toward foreign governments.<ref name=BT>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leo-XIII|title=Leo XIII|publisher=Britannica|author=Roger-François-Marie Aubert|date=|accessdate=12 February 2022}}</ref> When asked what name he would take, the new pope responded: "As Leo XIII, in remembrance of Leo XII, whom I have always venerated". His election was formally announced to the people of Rome and the world at 1:15{{nbsp}}pm.<ref name=LAT/>

He retained the administration of the Perugia see until 1880.

=== Pontificate ===
{{Social teachings of the popes}}

As soon as he was elected to the papacy, Leo XIII worked to encourage understanding between the church and the modern world. When he firmly reasserted the [[scholasticism|scholastic]] doctrine that science and religion coexist, he required the study of [[Thomas Aquinas]]<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/pope0256dd.htm |title=Aeterni Patris&nbsp;– On the Restoration of Christian Philosophy |publisher=Catholic forum |type=encyclical |date=4 August 1879 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225040233/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/pope0256dd.htm |archive-date=25 February 2007 }}.</ref> and opened the [[Vatican Secret Archives]] to qualified researchers, among whom was the noted historian of the Papacy [[Ludwig von Pastor]]. He also refounded the [[Vatican Observatory]]
"so that everyone might see clearly that the Church and her Pastors are not opposed to true and solid science, whether human or divine, but that they embrace it, encourage it, and promote it with the fullest possible devotion."<ref>{{Citation |last=Pecci |first=Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi |author-link=Pope Leo XIII |title=Ut Mysticam |language=la |date=14 March 1891}}.</ref>

[[File:Pope leo xiii and court at the vatican 1878.jpg|thumb|left|Pope Leo XIII and his inner court at the Vatican, photographed by [[Jules David (photographer)|Jules David]] in June 1878]]

Leo XIII brought normality back to the Catholic Church after the tumultuous years of Pius IX. Leo's intellectual and diplomatic skills helped regain much of the prestige lost with the fall of the Papal States. He tried to reconcile the church with the working class, particularly by dealing with the social changes that were sweeping Europe. The new economic order had resulted in the growth of an impoverished working class who had increasing anticlerical and socialist sympathies. Leo helped reverse that trend.

Although Leo XIII was no radical in either theology or politics, his papacy moved the Catholic Church back to the mainstream of European life. Considered a great diplomat, he managed to improve relations with [[Russian Empire|Russia]], [[German Empire|Germany]], [[French Third Republic|France]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] and other countries.

Pope Leo XIII was able to reach several agreements in 1896 that resulted in better conditions for the faithful and additional appointments of bishops. During the [[fifth cholera pandemic]] in 1891, he ordered the construction of a [[hospice]] inside the Vatican. That building would be torn down in 1996 to make way for construction of the [[Domus Sanctae Marthae]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ewtn.com/HolySee/Interregnum/domus.asp |title=Domus Sanctae Marthae & The New Urns Used in the Election of the Pope |publisher=EWTN |date=22 February 1996 |access-date=15 February 2010 |archive-date=12 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712081751/http://www.ewtn.com/HolySee/Interregnum/domus.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Leo was a drinker of the [[cocaine]]-infused wine tonic [[Vin Mariani]], a precursor drink to [[Coca-Cola]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Poison Pills: The Untold Story of the Vioxx Drug Scandal|last=Nesi|first=Thomas|date=2008|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|isbn=9780312369590|edition=1st|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/poisonpillsuntol0000nesi/page/53 53]|oclc=227205792|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/poisonpillsuntol0000nesi/page/53}}</ref> He awarded a [[Vatican City|Vatican]] gold medal to the wine's creator, [[Angelo Mariani (chemist)|Angelo Mariani]], and also appeared on a poster endorsing it.<ref name=inciardi>{{cite book |last=Inciardi |first=James A. |title=The War on Drugs II |publisher=Mayfield Publishing Company |year=1992 |page=6 |isbn=978-1-55934-016-8}}</ref> Leo XIII was a [[semi-vegetarianism|semi-vegetarian]]. In 1903, he attributed his longevity to the sparing use of meat and the consumption of eggs, milk and vegetables.<ref>[https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020558/1903-03-09/ed-1/seq-2/ ''The Elusive Secret of Long Life'']. ''Arizona Republican''. (9 March 1903). p. 2</ref>

His favourite poets were [[Virgil]] and [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]].<ref name="centurymag">[https://books.google.com/books?id=WngAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA596  "Pope Leo XIII and his Household"] in ''The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine'', p. 596</ref>

===Foreign relations===

====Russia====

{{Main |Pope Leo XIII and Russia|Pope Leo XIII and Poland}}

Pope Leo XIII began his pontificate with a friendly letter to Tsar [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] in which he reminded the [[Russian Empire|Russian]] monarch of the millions of Catholics living in his empire who would like to be good Russian subjects if their dignity were respected.

After the assassination of Alexander II, the pope sent a high ranking representative to the coronation of his successor, [[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander III]], who was grateful and asked for all religious forces to unify. He asked the pope to ensure that his bishops abstain from political [[Political demonstration|agitation]]. Relations improved further when Pope Leo XIII, because of Italian considerations, distanced the Vatican from the Rome-Vienna-Berlin alliance, and helped to facilitate a rapprochement between Paris and St. Petersburg.

====Germany====

Under [[Otto von Bismarck]], the [[anti-Catholic]] ''[[Kulturkampf]]'' in [[Prussia]] led to significant restrictions on the Catholic Church in the [[German Empire]], including the [[Jesuits Law (1872)|Jesuits Law of 1872]]. During Leo's papacy, compromises were informally reached and the anti-Catholic attacks subsided.<ref>{{cite book |first=Ronald J. |last=Ross |title=The failure of Bismarck's Kulturkampf: Catholicism and state power in imperial Germany, 1871–1887 |year=1998 |location= Washington, DC |publisher= Catholic University of America Press |isbn= 978-0-81320894-7}}</ref>

The [[Centre Party (Germany)|Centre Party]] in Germany represented Catholic interests and was a force for social change. It was encouraged by Leo's support for social welfare legislation and the rights of working people. Leo's forward-looking approach encouraged [[Catholic Action]] in other European countries, where the social teachings of the church were incorporated into the agenda of Catholic parties, particularly the [[Christian democracy|Christian democratic]] parties, which became an acceptable alternative to socialist parties. Leo's social teachings were reiterated throughout the 20th century by his successors.

In his ''Memoirs'',<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ywZoAAAAMAAJ&q=kaiser+%22My+Memoirs |title=Memoirs |pages=204–207 |access-date=23 June 2013 |last1=Emperor) |first1=William I.I. (German |year=1922}}</ref> Emperor [[Wilhelm II]] discussed the "friendly, trustful relationship that existed between me and Pope Leo XIII." During Wilhelm's third visit to Leo: "It was of interest to me that the Pope said on this occasion that Germany must be the sword of the Catholic Church. I remarked that the old [[Roman Empire of the German nation]] no longer existed, and that conditions had changed. But he adhered to his words."

====France====

Leo XIII possessed a great affection for France, and feared that the [[Third French Republic|Third Republic]] would take advantage of the fact that most French Catholics were [[Royalists]] to abolish the [[Concordat of 1801]]. At the advisement of [[Cardinal Rampolla]], he urged French Catholics to "rally" to the republic.<ref>{{cite book|last=Coulombe|first=Charles A.|title=A History of the Popes: Vicars of Christ|publisher=MJF Books|year=2003|pages=404–405}}</ref> Leo's decision upset many French monarchists, who felt they were being forced to betray their king for their faith. Ultimately, this move split the French Church politically and decreased its influence in France. Leo's move also failed to prevent the Concordat's eventual repealment, as it was later abrogated by the [[1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Fehér|first=Ferenc|title=The French Revolution and the Birth of Modernity|date=1990|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520071209|page=55|url=http://www.ucpress.edu/op.php?isbn=9780520071209|access-date=17 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529212627/http://www.ucpress.edu/op.php?isbn=9780520071209|archive-date=29 May 2010}}</ref>

====Italy====

[[File:Vatican Observatory 1891.jpg|thumb|right|Silver medal celebrating Pope Leo XIII's 1891 inauguration of the new observatory]]

In the light of a climate hostile to the Catholic Church, Leo continued the policies of Pius IX towards [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] without major modifications.{{Sfn|Schmidlin|1934|p=409}} In his relations with the Italian state, Leo continued the Papacy's self-imposed [[prisoner in the Vatican|incarceration-in-the-Vatican]] stance and continued to insist that Italian Catholics should not vote in Italian elections or hold any elected office. In his first [[papal consistory|consistory]] in 1879, he elevated his older brother, [[Giuseppe Pecci|Giuseppe]], to the cardinalate. He had to defend the freedom of the church against what Catholics considered Italian persecution and discrimination in the area of education, expropriation and violation of Catholic Churches, legal measures against the church and acts of terrorism such as anticlerical groups attempting to throw the corpse of Pope Pius IX into the [[Tiber]] on 13 July 1881.{{Sfn|Schmidlin|1934|p=413}} The pope even considered moving his residence to [[Trieste]] or [[Salzburg]], two cities in [[Cisleithania|Austria]], an idea that Emperor [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph I]] gently rejected.{{Sfn|Schmidlin|1934|p=414}}

====United Kingdom====

Among the activities of Leo XIII that were important for the English-speaking world, he [[Restoration of the Scottish hierarchy|restored the Scottish hierarchy]] in 1878. The following year, on 12 May 1879, he raised to the rank of [[cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]] the convert theologian [[John Henry Newman]],<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last=Martire |first=Egilberto |date=1951 |title=Enciclopedia Cattolica |trans-title=Catholic Encyclopedia |language=it|location=Firenze |publisher=[[Sansoni (publisher)|Casa Editrice G. C. Sansoni]] |volume=7}}</ref> who would eventually be [[beatification|beatified]] by [[Pope Benedict XVI]] in 2010 and [[canonization|canonized]] by [[Pope Francis]] in 2019. In [[British India]], too, Leo established a Catholic hierarchy in 1886 and regulated some longstanding conflicts with the [[Portuguese India|Portuguese authorities]]. A papal [[rescript]] (20 April 1888) condemned the Irish [[Plan of Campaign#Papal Encyclical 1888|Plan of Campaign]] and all clerical involvement in it as well as boycotting, followed in June by the papal encyclical "Saepe Nos"<ref>{{Citation |last=Pecci |first=Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi |author-link=Pope Leo XIII |publisher=New Advent |url=http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_le13sn.htm |title=Sæpe nos |language=la}}.</ref> that was addressed to all the Irish bishops. Of outstanding significance, not least for the English-speaking world, was Leo's encyclical ''[[Apostolicae curae]]'' on the invalidity of the Anglican orders, published in 1896. In 1899, he declared the Venerable [[Bede]] a [[Doctor of the Church]].

====Spain====

In 1880, the [[Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey]] in Catalonia celebrated 1000 years of existence. On 11 September 1881, to coincide with the Catalan national day, Leo XIII proclaimed the [[Virgin of Montserrat]] to be Patron of Catalonia. This had implications beyond the purely religious sphere, influencing the development of [[Catalan nationalism]].

====Bulgaria====
Leo XIII welcomed the elevation of Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg (the later [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria]]) to [[Prince of Bulgaria]] in 1886. A fellow Catholic, whose wife was a member of the Italian [[House of Bourbon-Parma]], the two had a lot in common. However, relations between the two degenerated when Ferdinand expressed his intention to allow his eldest son Crown Prince Boris (later [[Tsar Boris III]]) to convert to Orthodoxy, the majority religion of Bulgaria. Leo strongly condemned the action, and when Ferdinand went through with the conversion anyway, Leo [[Excommunication|excommunicated]] him.

====United States====
[[File:Catholic University DC 2.JPG|thumb|right|In 1889, Pope Leo XIII authorized the founding of [[Catholic University of America]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], and granted it Papal degrees in theology.]]
The United States frequently attracted his attention and admiration. He confirmed the decrees of the [[Third Plenary Council of Baltimore]] (1884) and raised [[James Gibbons]], the archbishop of that city, to the cardinalate in 1886.

On 10 April 1887, a pontifical charter from Pope Leo XIII founded the [[Catholic University of America]], establishing the national university of the Catholic Church in the United States.

American newspapers criticized Pope Leo because they claimed that he was attempting to gain control of American public schools.<ref name=publicschools>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107673799/pope-leo-xiii-no-public-schools/|volume=VIII |edition=1,630 |date=1894-03-19|title=The Public Schools|page=5|work=Minneapolis Daily Times|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |access-date=2022-08-15}}</ref> One cartoonist drew Leo as a fox unable to reach grapes that were labeled for American schools; the caption read "Sour grapes!"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.criaimages.com/detail.aspx?img=0000037708c |title=CRIA: Commercial Research Image Archives |first=CRIA |last=LLC |website=www.criaimages.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191129073432/http://www.criaimages.com/detail.aspx?img=0000037708c! |archive-date=29 November 2019}}</ref>

In 1892, Pope Leo XIII opened the [[Vatican Apostolic Archive|Vatican archives]] to [[William Eleroy Curtis]], a special envoy planning the commemoration of [[Christopher Columbus]] at the 1893 [[World's Columbian Exposition]].<ref name=Leopold_1994>{{citation |title=A Guide to Early African Collections in the Smithsonian Institution |last=Leopold |first=Robert S. |journal=National Museum of Natural History |date=August 1994 |page=29}}</ref><ref name=McEachen_1972>{{citation | title=Letters and lectures of Captain Little |last=McEachen |first=A. D. |journal=Naval War College Review |date=February 1972 |volume=24 |issue=6 |pages=89–91 |jstor=44639691}}</ref>

====Brazil====
Pope Leo XIII is remembered for the ''First Plenary Council of Latin America'' held at Rome in 1899, and for his encyclical of 1888 to the bishops of [[Empire of Brazil|Brazil]], ''[[In plurimis]]'', on the [[slavery in Brazil|abolition of slavery]]. In 1897 he published the [[Ecclesiastical letter#Letters of the popes in modern times|Apostolic Letter]] ''Trans Oceanum'', which dealt with the privileges and ecclesiastical structure of the Catholic Church in Latin America.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/leo_xiii/apost_letters/documents/hf_l-xiii_apl_18970418_trans-oceanum_lt.html |language=la |trans-title=Over the Ocean, Apostolic letter on Latin American privileges |title=Trans Oceanum, Litterae apostolicae, De privilegiis Americae Latinae |last=Pecci |first=Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi |author-link=Pope Leo XIII |publisher=Vatican |date=18 April 1897 |place=Rome, IT |access-date= 23 June 2013}}</ref>

====Chile====
He bestowed his pontifical benediction over [[Chile]]an troops on the eve of the [[Battle of Chorrillos]] during the [[War of the Pacific]] in January 1881. The Chilean soldiers looted the cities of [[Chorrillos District|Chorrillos]] and [[Barranco District|Barranco]], including the churches, and their chaplains headed the robbery at the [[National Library of Peru|Biblioteca Nacional del Perú]], where the soldiers ransacked various items along with much capital, and Chilean Priests coveted rare and ancient editions of the Bible that were stored there.<ref>{{Citation | first = Tomas | last = Caivano | title = Historia de la guerra de América entre Chile, Perú y Bolivia | year = 1907 | language = es| trans-title = History of the American war between Chile, Peru and Bolivia}}.</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable, too old, polemical ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=June 2024}}

====India====
Pope Leo XIII urged "Filii tui India, administri tibi salutis" (Your own sons, O India, will be the heralds of your salvation)<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.dbpia.co.kr/Journal/articleDetail?nodeId=NODE06363041|title = Priestly Formation in Indian Context :A New Pedagogy for Integral Formation of Candidates to Priesthood in India| journal=Catholic Theology and Thought | date=June 2015 | issue=75 | pages=11–45 | last1=Mathias | first1=Joseph Benedict }}</ref> and founded the national seminary, called [[Papal Seminary]]. He entrusted this task to the then Apostolic Delegate to India [[Ladislaus Michael Zaleski]], who founded the Seminary in 1893.

==== Philippines ====
Leo XIII was pope during the [[Spanish–American War]] in 1898, in which the United States, a then largely Protestant nation, took control of the [[Philippines]] from Spain. In a 1902 meeting with the American Governor-General [[William Howard Taft]], Leo XIII refused to allow the United States government to buy land from Catholic friars in the Philippines.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Taft's Curious Connection with the Church - 1901-2000 Church History |url=https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1901-2000/tafts-curious-connection-with-the-church-11630671.html |access-date=2024-06-24 |website=Christianity.com |language=en}}</ref>

====Evangelization====
Pope Leo XIII sanctioned the missions to [[Eastern Africa]] beginning in 1884.<ref name="auto"/> In 1887, he approved the foundation of [[Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo]], which were organized by the [[Bishop of Piacenza]], [[Giovanni Battista Scalabrini]]. The missionaries were sent to North and South America to do pastoral care for Italian immigrants. In 1879 Catholic missionaries associated with the [[White Fathers|White Father Congregation (Society of the Missionaries of Africa)]] came to [[Uganda]] and others went to Tanganyika (present-day [[Tanzania]]) and [[Rwanda]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Italian American Experience. An Encyclopedia |year=2003 |page=21}}</ref>