Leo XIII on what marriage owes to the Church
By Thomas V. Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Jan 02, 2026 | In The Catholic Culture Podcast
Listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | YouTube Channel
This is a listener-supported podcast! Thanks for your help!
Thomas Mirus discusses Pope Leo XIII’s 1880 encyclical Arcanum, on Christian marriage. This was “the first formal and synoptic teaching on marriage since the Council of Trent”—a gap of four centuries. Arcanum is focused on what the Church has done to uplift and protect marriage throughout history. Leo argues at length that the state has no right to usurp the Church’s governance of marriage.
Links
Pope Leo XIII, Arcanum
Audiobook of Pius XI’s Casti Connubii
Theme music: “Franciscan Eyes”, written and performed by Thomas Mirus. Download the Catholic Culture Podcast soundtrack.
Thomas V. Mirus is President of Trinity Communications and Director of Podcasts for CatholicCulture.org, hosts The Catholic Culture Podcast, and co-hosts Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. See full bio.
Next post
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
