Editing Pope Leo XIII (section)

== Theology ==

{{Main|Theology of Pope Leo XIII}}

[[File:Kardinal Giuseppe Pecci JS (cropped).jpg|thumb|145px|left|[[Giuseppe Pecci]] in 1887. At the urgent requests of the [[College of Cardinals]], Leo XIII in 1879 elevated his brother, Giuseppe Pecci, a [[Jesuit]] and prominent [[Thomist]] theologian, into their ranks.{{sfn|Kühne|1880|p=247}}]]

{{Further|List of encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII}}

Leo XIII also approved a number of [[Scapular]]s. In 1885, he approved the [[Scapular of the Holy Face]], (also known as ''The Veronica'') and elevated the ''Priests of the Holy Face'' to an archconfraternity.<ref>Henry Charles Lea (2002), ''A History of Auricular Confession and Indulgences in the Latin Church'', Adamant Media Corp. {{ISBN|1-4021-6108-5}} p. 506</ref> He also approved the Scapular of [[Our Lady of Good Counsel]] and the [[Scapular of St. Joseph]], both in 1893, and the [[Scapular of the Sacred Heart]] in 1900.<ref>Francis de Zulueta (2008), ''Early Steps In The Fold'', Miller Press, {{ISBN|978-1-4086-6003-4}} p. 317</ref>

====Thomism====
As pope, he used all his authority for a revival of the theology of [[Thomas Aquinas]]. On 4 August 1879, Leo XIII promulgated the encyclical ''[[Aeterni Patris]]'' ("Eternal Father"), which, more than any other single document, provided a charter for the revival of Thomism, the medieval theological system based on the thought of Aquinas – as the official philosophical and theological system of the Catholic Church. It was to be normative not only in the training of priests but also in the education of the laity at universities.

Pope Leo XIII later created the [[Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas]] on 15 October 1879 and ordered the publication of the critical edition, the so-called [[Leonine Edition]], of the complete works of the ''doctor angelicus''. The superintendence of the Leonine edition was entrusted to [[Tommaso Maria Zigliara]], professor and rector of the ''Collegium Divi Thomae de Urbe'', the future [[Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas]], today called ''Angelicum''. Leo also founded the ''Angelicum's'' Faculty of Philosophy in 1882 and its Faculty of [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Canon Law]] in 1896.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

====Consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart====
[[File:Maria Droste zu Vischering.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The Blessed [[Mary of the Divine Heart|Sister Mary of the Divine Heart]] was a [[Religious sister (Catholic)|religious sister]] from the [[Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd]] who requested Pope Leo XIII to consecrate the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.<ref>{{Citation |last=Chasle |first=Louis |title=Sister Mary of the Divine Heart, Droste zu Vischering, religious of the Good Shepherd, 1863–1899 |publisher=Burns & Oates |place=London |year=1906}}.</ref>]]
Leo entered new theological territory in consecrating the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. After he had received many letters from Sister [[Mary of the Divine Heart]], the countess of [[Droste zu Vischering]] and [[wikt:Special:Search/mother superior|Mother Superior]] in the Convent of the [[Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd|Good Shepherd Sisters]] in [[Porto]], Portugal, asking him to consecrate the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, he commissioned a group of theologians to examine the petition on the basis of revelation and sacred tradition. The outcome of this investigation was positive and so in the encyclical letter ''[[Annum sacrum]]'' (on 25 May 1899), he decreed that the consecration of the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus should take place on 11 June 1899.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Annum Sacrum (May 25, 1899) {{!}} LEO XIII |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_25051899_annum-sacrum.html |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>

The encyclical letter also encouraged the entire Catholic episcopate to promote the [[First Friday Devotions]], established June as the Month of the Sacred Heart, and included the [[Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart]].<ref>{{Citation |first=Ann |last=Ball |year=2003 |title=Encyclopedia of Catholic Devotions and Practices |isbn=978-0-87973-910-2 |page=166|publisher=Our Sunday Visitor }}.</ref>

====Prayer====
Leo introduced the promotion of monthly prayer intentions in 1890, which he entrusted to the Apostleship of Prayer (now the [[Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network]]).<ref>Vatican News, [https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-02/pope-francis-monthly-prayer-intentions-2022.html Pope’s prayer intentions for 2022], accessed 2 June 2023</ref>

====Scriptures====

In his 1893 encyclical ''[[Providentissimus Deus]],'' he described the importance of scriptures for theological study. It was an important encyclical for Catholic theology and its relation to the Bible, as [[Pope Pius XII]] pointed out 50 years later in his encyclical ''[[Divino afflante Spiritu]]''.<ref>{{Citation |title=Divino Afflante Spiritu |at=1–12}}.</ref>

====Eastern Rite Catholics====
He devoted his encyclical ''[[Orientalium dignitas]]'' of 1894 to preserving Eastern Rite liturgies.<ref>Remedios, M., 2021. Vatican II and Liturgical Reform in the Eastern Churches: The Paradox in the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. ''Saeculum Undergraduate Academic Journal'', ''16''(1).</ref>

====Theological research====

[[File:John Henry Newman (by Emmeline Deane).jpg|thumb|145px|left|[[John Henry Newman]] was raised into the College of Cardinals by Pope Leo XIII.]]

Leo XIII is credited with great efforts in the areas of scientific and historical analysis. He opened the [[Vatican Archive]]s and personally fostered a 20-volume comprehensive scientific study of the Papacy by [[Ludwig von Pastor]], an Austrian historian.<ref>{{Citation |first=Ludwig |last=von Pastor |title=Errinnerungen |year=1950 |language=de}}.</ref>

====Mariology====

{{Main|Mariology of Pope Leo XIII}}

His predecessor, [[Pope Pius IX]], became known as the Pope of the [[Immaculate Conception]] because of his dogmatization in 1854. Leo XIII, in light of his unprecedented promulgation of the [[rosary]] in 11 encyclicals, was called the [[Rosary Pope]] because he promulgated Marian devotion. In his encyclical on the 50th anniversary of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, he stresses Mary's role in the redemption of humanity and calls her [[Mediatrix]] and [[Co-Redemptrix]]. While allowing the title "Mediatrix", recent popes, following on the Second Vatican Council, have warned away from the term "co-redemptrix" as derogating from the one mediator, Jesus Christ.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Frederick William Faber|url=http://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BfwCAAAAQAAJ|title=The foot of the Cross; or, The sorrows of Mary|date=1858|publisher=Thomas Richardson and Son|pages=448|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Co-Redemptrix as Dogma? : University of Dayton, Ohio|url=https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/c/co-redemptrix-as-dogma.php|access-date=7 July 2020|website=udayton.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Pope Francis on 'Co-Redemptrix'|url=https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/12/pope-calls-idea-of-declaring-mary-co-redemptrix-foolishness/|access-date=7 July 2020|website=cruxnow.com|date=12 December 2019}}</ref>