Pope Leo XIV's Name: A Nod to Pope Leo XIII's Social Teachings

Vatican, 10 May 2025: Pope Leo XIV shared the powerful inspiration behind his papal name—an intentional nod to a moment in Church history when faith met the upheaval of social change. At the heart of his choice stands Pope Leo XIII, the great architect of Catholic social teaching.

“I decided to take the name Leo XIV... There were many reasons,” he said, “but mainly Pope Leo XIII, who in his historic encyclical Rerum Novarum, addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution.”

Drawing a bold parallel between the past and present, Pope Leo XIV made it clear that the Church once again stands at a turning point. With the rise of artificial intelligence and a new wave of industrial transformation, he pointed to the urgent need to protect the dignity of every human being.

“In our own day,” he continued, “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, of justice and labour.”

Source: Vatican News