With the election of Pope Leo XIV, excitement abounds regarding where he will lead the Church. His choice of “Leo” as his name is significant in a living Church. The last Pope Leo, Leo XIII, in the late 19th century, began a new era in Catholic Social Thought. His 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum, brought the Church forward as a guiding light for the world filled with society-level social challenges. The twin forces of the Industrial Revolution and Marxism were turning world order on it head. Pope Leo stepped forward with a moral platform based on the Good News of the Gospel that endures today. But he was only the beginning of a series of Papal actions over the last 135 years designed to keep the world in a state of just peace. In many ways, he picked up from Jesus’ earthly ministry truly being the voice of the now ascended risen Lord in the modern world.

One of the remarkable events in scripture is the Ascension. I pick that event as the starter for a series on Catholic Social Thought. The Ascension is a graduation event. In the Gospel the Ascension narrative looks backward at the earthly ministry of Jesus. It is a farewell scene full of love and goodwill. It is also a look forward. The Ascension was the moment to accelerate the church as a global, living body with love as the enduring thread.

The Church is sometimes depicted as a stagnant relic of the past, clueless about modern times. Such a critic needs to look at Catholic Social Thought. Social thought has been part of our faith legacy since the beginning. However, the last 130 years give a well-documented record of the continuity of Catholic Social Thought. Along with continuity, evident is a connection to the modern world. The Church is alive. There is nothing like a Papal transition to show how the Church lives on with vigor. I don’t have a clue about what Pope Leo XIV will do. But I promise, we are on the threshold of new chapters in Social Thought that will be a blend of continuity and reality of modern times.

This article begins a series on Catholic Social Thought. The focus will be on the period beginning with Pope Leo XIII’s publication of an encyclical on social questions. Leo’s 1891 publication, Rerum Novarum, did not get much attention on this side of the Atlantic. But it grew in importance as it served as a platform for future papal publications on the topic and actions of political figures like Theodore Roosevelt. It is important to look at the long series of papal publications to appreciate the combination of continuity of God-given morality with awareness of the conditions in a modern world. Careful reading of the encyclicals would not satisfy extremists on any political side. That is important to note as people of all inclinations are prone to selectively grab from scripture or Church writings to justify their positions. Everything is not black and white. In the papal writings we find a church that looks like the Jesus who met people where they were. It is like the Lord meeting the Woman at the Well or tax collectors. There is a connection with workers and entrepreneurs. There is connection with civilizations east and west and a diversity of political thought. There is recognition of the times.