Pope Leo XIV namesake was the labor pope
Pope Leo XIII was the labor pope. There is hope.
Pope Leo XIII, who served as pope from 1878 to 1903, is best known for his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which marked the beginning of modern Catholic social teaching. In this document, he addressed the harsh conditions facing workers during the Industrial Revolution and emphasized the need for justice in labor relations. He affirmed the rights of workers to form associations and unions, to receive a just wage sufficient to support a family, and to work in conditions that respect human dignity. At the same time, he rejected both socialism, which he saw as hostile to private property, and unrestrained capitalism, which he criticized for exploiting laborers.
In Rerum Novarum, Leo XIII condemned the practice of paying workers less than what they need to live, writing that “to defraud anyone of wages that are his due is a great crime which cries to the avenging anger of Heaven.” He also promoted the formation of worker associations, recalling the positive role of medieval guilds and calling for new institutions that protect laborers’ rights. His work laid the foundation for subsequent developments in Catholic social doctrine, influencing encyclicals such as Quadragesimo Anno by Pius XI, Laborem Exercens by John Paul II, and Fratelli Tutti by Pope Francis, all of which expanded on Leo XIII’s message in light of changing economic and social realities. Many of the labor protections Leo advocated—such as the right to unionize, the concept of a living wage, and state regulation of labor—would later become core elements of modern labor laws in democracies around the world.