LEO XIII

original name Vincenzo Gioacchino Pecci born March 2, 1810, Carpineto Romano, Papal States died July 20, 1903, Rome head of the Roman Catholic Church (18781903) who brought a new spirit to the papacy, manifested in more conciliatory positions toward civil governments, by care taken that the church not be opposed to scientific progress and by an awareness of the pastoral and social needs of the times. Additional reading C. de T'Serclaes, Le pape Lon XIII, 3 vol. (18941906), gives the official Vatican viewpoint (the first two volumes were reviewed by the Pope himself ); M. Spahn, Leo XIII (1905), offers critical evaluations (in German) from the point of view of German Reformkatholizismus (Critical Catholicism); a French point of view is found in F. Hayward, Lon XIII (1937). The essay by R. Aubert, Lon XIII, in I cattolici italiani dall'800 ad oggi, pp. 189220 (1964), utilizes the most recent works. On the various aspects of the work of Leo XIII as pope, see E.T. Gargan (ed.), Leo XIII and the Modern World (1961); and E. Soderini, Il pontificato di Leone XIII, 3 vol. (193233).