L’Osservatore Romano pays tribute to Rerum Novarum

May 16, 2025

Under a red-colored banner headline, L’Osservatore Romano published a two-page, three-article tribute in its May 15 edition to mark the anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII’s landmark 1891 social encyclical on capital and labor.

In “Un messaggio più che mai attuale“ [A message more relevant than ever], Birgit Pottler wrote that the encyclical “would lay the foundations of the Social Doctrine of the Church and earned the Pontiff the nickname ‘Pope of the workers.’“

“In the midst of the industrial revolution, he called for fair wages, the dignity of work and responsibility in the management of property,” she continued. “Today, in the era of artificial intelligence and digital work, Leo XIV consciously takes up this legacy.”

Pottler wrote that Leo XIII

defended the right to private property, but at the same time demanded fair wages, decent working conditions and the right of workers to associate, explicitly supporting Catholic workers’ movements. He underlined the responsibility of capital towards the weakest, urged the regulatory intervention of the State and indicated the family as the fundamental cell of society. Not class struggle, but solidarity and justice were to be the basis of the social order. Thus, thanks to Leo XIII, the “third way” of the Church was born, halfway between capitalism and socialism, founded on Christian principles.

“The guiding principles of Rerum Novarum—human dignity, fair wages, solidarity, orientation to the common good—continue to offer a solid moral point of reference today to face the challenges of digital work and the age of artificial intelligence,” she concluded.

In “Quell’idea semplice che rivoluzionò le coscienze“ [That simple idea that revolutionized consciences], journalist Lucio Brunelli recalled the discussions within the Church and historical circumstances that preceded the publication of the encyclical. Brunelli concluded with a quote from George Bernanos’s novel, The Diary of a Country Priest:

That famous encyclical of Leo XIII, you read it tranquilly, without batting an eye, as if it were any old Lenten sermon. However, at that time, it seemed to us that the earth was trembling beneath our feet. The idea, so simple, that work could not be a commodity subject to the law of supply and demand, that one could not speculate with the pay or with the life of men as one could with the price of wheat, sugar or coffee, made consciences tremble.

Finally, in “Su ‘L’Osseravtore Romano,’“ the Vatican newspaper reprinted the front page of its May 19, 1891 edition. The Vatican newspaper published the encyclical in Latin in its May 19, 20, and 21 editions in 1891, and in Italian in its May 23, 1891 edition.

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