Editor’s Note: On May 8, Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost took the name Leo XIV as head of the Catholic Church. He did so in part as a homage to Pope Leo XIII, and specifically in honor of his application of theological principles to politics and economics during the convulsions of the Industrial Revolution.

In 1891, Leo XIII released the document Rerum novarum, often translated “Of new things,” in which he both condemned revolutionary socialism and deplored the treatment of the working classes under a rapacious capitalist system. This expression of the dignity of labor became foundational to Catholic Social Teaching, and went on to influence civil governments around the world — including Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal.

On this Labor Day, we present a short excerpt in w

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