RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Leo X-XIII
VI. 2, §§ 4-5). In France, Lamennais (q.v.), who embodied all the neo-Catholicism and Ultramontanism just then in vogue, evoked the pope's approval. He came to Rome in 1824 and Leo offered him a cardinal's hat. The pope's relations with the French government were not cordial. He carried on tedious negotiations with the Netherlands over the question of the nomination of bishops and the closing of the clerical seminaries, which came to nothing because of the revolution in Belgium (cf. 0. Mejer, Die Propaganda, ii. 98 sqq., Gottingen, 1853; F Nippold, Die romisch-katholische Kirche im Konigreich der Niederlande, Leipsic, 1877, 149- 151). K. Beneath.
Bibliography: A. de Montor, Hist, du Pape Leon XII., 2 vols., Paris, 1843; J. G. Koberle, Leo XII. und der Geist der romischen Hierarchie, Leipsic, 1846; N. P. S. Wiseman, Recollections of the Last Four Popes, London, 1859; A. von Reumont, Geschichte der Stadt Bom, iii. 2, p. 679, Berlin, 1870; L. von Ranke, Historisch-biographische Studien, pp. 143-157, Leipsic, 1877; M. Brosch, Geschichte des Kirchenstaates, ii. 308 sqq., Gotha, 1881; F. Nippold, Handbuch der neuesten Kirchengeschichte, ii. 70—79, Elberfeld, 1883; F. Nippold, Papacy in the 1 9th. Century ; pp . 71-81, New York, 1900; F. Nielsen, Papacy in the 19th Century, 2 vols., ib. 1906; Bower, Popes, iii. 434-464.
Leo XIII. (Joachim Vincent Pecci) : Pope 1878- 1903. He came of a noble Siennese family, and was born at Carpineto (42 m. s.e. of Rome) Mar. 2, 1810. At the age of eight he was sent to the Jesuit college at Viterbo where he remained six years and then entered the famous Roman College in 1825. He proved himself a dili- Early gent as well as a brilliant student and Life and developed early an extraordinary apti- Training. tude for the Latin classics. In 1830 he matriculated for divinity in the Gregorian University at Rome and received his doctor's degree two years later. Having decided to prepare himself for a diplomatic career, he entered, in 1833, the Academy or College of the Nobles at Rome where he remained until 1837, devoting himself to the study of canon and civil law, taking courses in these branches at the University of the Sapienza. In 1837 he was made a domestic prelate by Gregory XVI., who also appointed him to the office of Referendary of the papal signature, and at the end of the same year he was ordained to the priesthood. The following year, being only twentyeight years of age, he was appointed to the difficult post of governor of the province of Benevento, which for some time had been in a very disturbed condition, being infested by smugglers and brigands, but the young prelate at once asserted his authority, and by severe and decisive measures speedily suppressed lawlessness and restored order to the province. In 1841 he was recalled and appointed to the more important charge of delegate of Spoleto, having his administrative headquarters in Perugia. He filled this position until 1843, when he was consecrated titular archbishop of Damietta and appointed papal nuncio to the court of Brussels. This post he occupied three years, and in the mean time he became quite popular in academic as well as in diplomatic circles. In 1846 he spent a few months in England, and, returning the same year to Rome, then to Paris, was appointed bishop of Perugia. His episcopate in this diocese lasted thirty-
two years through a period of much political and religious disturbance connected with the various movements set on foot for the unification of the Italian states. As a bishop, besides taking an active part in the social and religious movements of the day, he showed more than ordinary zeal for the reform of abuses, and paid special attention to the hitherto much neglected education of the people in secular as well as religious matters. He was created cardinal by Pius IX. in 1853, and he remained in charge of his diocese until 1878, when, on the death of Pius IX., he was elected pope and took the name Leo XIII.
During his pontificate, which was one of the longest and most distinguished in the history of the papacy, he continued to display marked diplomatic and administrative ability. A lover of peace and unity, he applied himself with much tact to improve the rather strained relations between the
papacy and the various powers, which
His Pon- had resulted from the reactionary ideas
tificate. and policy of his predecessor. While
he has been criticized for having shaped much of his diplomacy with a view to bringing about a restoration of the temporal power, it must be admitted, in view of the far-reaching results achieved, that his motives and policy far transcended this secondary object. It was mainly through his diplomatic ability that in Germany an end was put (1886) to the famous religious strife called the Kulturkampf which had lasted for nearly twenty years. In harmony with his general policy of conciliation he early favored a loyal acceptance of the republican form of government on the part of the French people, and though he was not a little blamed for this attitude by the royalists who were then counted the most enlightened and influential of French Catholics, he remained firm in his convictions which he set forth in an encyclical to the French people in 1892. As a churchman he was characterized by broad, tolerant and irenic views, and his policy was shaped not only with a view to the uplifting of those within the Church, but also to the ultimate reunion of all Christendom. Thus he evinced a lively and efficient interest in the religious welfare of the Slavonic races, and in the reunion with Rome of the various eastern churches. It was in a great measure through his efforts that the Armenian schism was extinguished in 1879, in connection with which event he issued in 1881 a bull decreeing the foundation of an Armenian college in Rome. His appeal in 1895 to the " Illustrious English Race " was dictated by the same irenic spirit and desire for unity, but whatever effect it might otherwise have produced was counteracted by his bull on Anglican orders issued the following year, which denied their validity. A fitting recognition of his zeal for peace as well as of his diplomatic ability was his appointment in 1885 to be arbiter in a dispute between Germany and Spain concerning the Caroline Islands. He took a deep interest in the intellectual and social problems of the day and did much for the promotion of learning. In this connection may be mentioned the publication of an encyclical on Christian philosophy in 1879; the foundation, shortly after, of the Academy of St.
Leo XIII
Leontius of Byzantium