Why Leo? The bookmakers were giving very short odds on Francis II.
The new pope gave a brief explanation in his first address to the cardinals.
“There are different reasons for this,” he said, “but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In our own day, the church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour.”
Leo XIII governed the church from 1878 to 1903. This extraordinary pope is most famous for Rerum Novarum (On new things), which laid the foundation for Catholic social teaching. He defended the rights of workers and condemned both radical socialism and the excesses of laissez-faire capitalism.
But Leo XIII wrote a record 88 encyclicals, 11 of which were on the Rosary, a sign of his deep prayer life and love for popular piety.
He also confronted the intimidating challenge of 19th century atheistic ideologies, like Marxism and positivism. He promoted the study of the works of St Thomas Aquinas, invigorating Catholic intellectual life throughout the next century.
The name is a key to the agenda. If Leo XIV wants to channel Leo XIII, perhaps he intends to ground his pontificate on traditional piety, defend Christian values with intellectual rigour, and be a fearless advocate of social justice.
The pope said that there were “different reasons”. There’s a second plausible explanation. Perhaps it is a warm-hearted tribute to his predecessor.
Cardinal Prevost was a protégée, colleague, and admirer of Pope Francis. This has an historical precedent. The closest person to St Francis of Assisi was a friar named Leo. He was his favorite follower, his secretary and his confessor. Mediaeval paintings depict him with St Francis as he received the stigmata.
So was Cardinal Prevost signalling that he will be a spiritual disciple of Papa Bergoglio? Perhaps he will be Francis II after all.
