Pope Leo XIII (2 March 1810-20 July 1903), born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci, was Pope from 20 February 1878 to 20 July 1903, succeeding Pope Pius IX and preceding Pope Pius X.
Biography[]
Vincenzo Pecci was born in Carpineto Romano, French Empire (located near Rome) on 2 March 1810. In 1837, Pope Gregory XVI appointed Pecci his personal prelate months before he was even ordained as a priest, and he served as provincial administrator of Benevento, Spoleto, and Perugia from 1837 to 1843. From 1843 to 1878, he was Archbishop of Perugia, and he was elected Pope by the College of Cardinals in 1878, succeeding Pope Pius IX. He chose the name "Leo" as his pontifical name. Pope Leo XIII was more liberal than his predecessor, Pope Pius IX, and his 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum outlined the rights of workers to a fare wage, safe working conditions, while also affirming the rights of property and free enterprise, opposing both Marxism and laissez-faire capitalism. He was the first Pope to not rule over the Papal States, which had been united with Italy in 1870. He died in 1903.