Good news and a challenge

By choosing to be called Leo, the new pope delivered a clear message "urbi et orbi" : the reference to Leo XIII, Pope from 1878 to 1903. In the midst of the development of industrial capitalism, he seems to be taking the opposite view of his predecessor, Pius IX, who closed the Church in his time and condemned socialism, communism and also liberalism, understood as the affirmation of the individual citizen and the religious and sexual freedoms that go with it.

To break the deadlock in which the Church found itself, Leo XIII revived the teachings of the thoughts of Thomas Aquinas, himself inspired by Aristotle, in an attempt to harmonize faith and reason. He encouraged the development of exegesis, that is, the scientific interpretation of fundamental texts. He took an interest in the Eastern churches and opened the Vatican archives to researchers.

A reference to Leo XIII who launched the founding act of what is called the “social doctrine of the Church”.

Retaining from his predecessor the desire to contain the surge of revolutionary ideas in the working class, he distinguished himself from him by his method. He sought new answers for the Church to questions that were themselves new. He pushed for research on the evolution of the question of work in the capitalist world. In 1882, a Roman Committee for Social Studies was created, which produced a memorandum amended by the Pope himself, which took the name "Rerum Novarum" (New Things) in 1891, and which would become the founding act of what is called the "social doctrine of the Church."

In a 2013 publication by the CGT Institute of Social History, René Mouriaux comments on this text in these terms: "In 'Rerum Novarum,' the thought has acquired a density that impressed contemporaries. The description of the working class condition in the face of the 'concentration of industry and commerce' is both precise and poignant (misery, vulnerability, discredit), proof of an intense social conflict." The Church then alerts those in charge and presents possible solutions. For example, the establishment by the State of redistributive justice and the setting of a fair wage.

Seeking to bring employers and workers closer together, the Pope proposed the adaptation of the old corporations and encouraged mutual aid societies. Above all, he envisaged the creation of other types of associations, "either composed of workers alone, or mixed, bringing together both workers and employers." He therefore accepted the formation of professional unions, leaving open the question of their composition.

In 1892, he encouraged French Catholics to rally to the Republic, which was not without turbulence in 1905 at the time of the separation of Church and State. In France, the law authorized trade unions in 1884. The first Christian union, the Union of Employees of Commerce and Industry, was created in 1887, followed by the first Christian women's unions. In 1919, they founded the CFTC, which would later become the CFDT in 1966.

Other Christians, in greater numbers, would choose the CGT, founded in 1895. A secular, class-based union, it brought together employees around their common interests, regardless of their philosophical, political, or religious opinions. While no one can predict what Leo XIV's pontificate would be like, we already know that the Catholic Church is determined to tackle the major social problems of the contemporary world head-on. This is both good news and a challenge.