Leo XIII

Early life and education (1810–1836)

Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci was born in Carpineto Romano, near Rome, the sixth of the seven children of Count Domenico Ludovico Pecci (2 June 1767 – 8 March 1833), Patrician of Siena, Colonel of the French Army under Napoleon, and his wife Anna Francesca Prosperi-Buzzi (1773 – 9 August 1824). His uncle Giuseppe Pecci was a protonotary apostolic and referendary of the Signature of Justice and died in 1806. His brothers included Giuseppe and Giovanni Battista or Giambattista Pecci (26 October 1802 – 28 March 1882), 1st Count Pecci (Comes Romanus by Papal brief in 1880), who married on 8 August 1851 Angela Salina (7 February 1830 – 9 October 1899) and had issue, and sister Anna Maria Pecci, wife of Michelangelo Pecci. Until 1818, he lived at home with his family "in which religion counted as the highest grace on earth, as through her, salvation can be earned for all eternity". Together with Giuseppe, he studied in the Jesuit College in Viterbo until 1824. He enjoyed Latin and was known to have written his own Latin poems at the age of eleven. Leo was a descendant of the Italian leader Cola di Rienzo on his mother's side.

His siblings were:

Carlo (1793–1879)

Anna Maria (1798–1870)

Caterina (1800–1867)

Giovanni Battista (1802–1881)

Giuseppe (1807–1890)

Fernando (1813–1830)

In 1824, he and Giuseppe were called to Rome, where their mother was dying. Count Pecci wanted his children near him after the loss of his wife and so they stayed with him in Rome and attended the Jesuit Collegium Romanum.

In 1828, the 18-year-old Vincenzo decided in favour of secular clergy, and Giuseppe entered the Jesuit order. Vincenzo studied at the Academia dei Nobili, mainly diplomacy and law. In 1834, he gave a student presentation, attended by several cardinals, on papal judgments. For his presentation, he received awards for academic excellence and gained the attention of Vatican officials. Cardinal Secretary of State Luigi Lambruschini introduced him to Vatican congregations. During a cholera epidemic in Rome, he assisted Cardinal Giuseppe Antonio Sala in his duties as overseer of all the city hospitals. In 1836, he received his doctorate in theology and doctorates of civil and Canon Law in Rome.

Provincial administrator (1837–1843)

On 14 February 1837, Pope Gregory XVI appointed the 27-year-old Pecci as personal prelate even before he was ordained a priest on 31 December 1837 by the Cardinal Vicar Carlo Odescalchi. He celebrated his first Mass with his priest brother Giuseppe. Shortly thereafter, Gregory XVI appointed Pecci as Papal legate (provincial administrator) to Benevento, the smallest Papal province, with a population of about 20,000.

The main problems facing Pecci were a decaying local economy, insecurity from widespread bandits, and pervasive Mafia or Camorra structures, which were often allied with aristocratic families. Pecci arrested the most powerful aristocrat in Benevento his troops captured others, who were either killed or imprisoned by him. With public order restored, he turned to the economy and a reform of the tax system to stimulate trade with the neighboring provinces.

Pecci was first destined for Spoleto, a province of 100,000. On 17 July 1841, he was sent to Perugia with 200,000 inhabitants. His immediate concern was to prepare the province for a papal visitation in the same year. Pope Gregory XVI visited hospitals and educational institutions for several days, asking for advice and listing questions. The fight against corruption continued in Perugia, where Pecci investigated several incidents. When it was claimed that a bakery was selling bread below the prescribed pound weight, he personally went there, had all bread weighed and confiscated it if below legal weight. The confiscated bread was distributed to the poor.

Nuncio to Belgium (1843–1846)

In 1843, Pecci, at only 33, was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium, a position that guaranteed the cardinal's hat after completion of the tour.

On 27 April 1843, Pope Gregory XVI appointed Pecci Archbishop and asked his Cardinal Secretary of State Lambruschini to consecrate him. Pecci developed excellent relations with the royal family and used the location to visit neighboring Germany, where he was particularly interested in the architectural completion of the Cologne Cathedral.

In 1844, upon his initiative, a Belgian College in Rome was opened; 102 years later, in 1946, the future Pope John Paul II would begin his Roman studies there. Pecci spent several weeks in England with Bishop Nicholas Wiseman, carefully reviewing the condition of the Catholic Church in that country.

In Belgium, the school question was sharply debated between the Catholic majority and the liberal minority. Pecci encouraged the struggle for Catholic schools, but he was able to win the good will of the Court not only of the pious Queen Louise but also of King Leopold I, who was strongly liberal in his views. The new nuncio succeeded in uniting Catholics. At the end of his mission, the King granted him the Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold.

Archbishop-Bishop of Perugia (1846–1878)

Papal assistant

In 1843, Pecci had been named papal assistant. From 1846 to 1877, he was considered a popular and successful Archbishop of Perugia. In 1847, after Pope Pius IX granted unlimited freedom for the press in the Papal States, Pecci, who had been highly popular in the first years of his episcopate, became the object of attacks in the media and at his residence. In 1848, revolutionary movements developed throughout Western Europe, including France, Germany and Italy. Austrian, French and Spanish troops reversed the revolutionary gains but at a price for Pecci and the Catholic Church, who could not regain their former popularity.

Provincial council

Pecci called a provincial council in 1849 to reform the religious life in his dioceses in Spoleto and it was in this council that the need for a Syllabus of Errors was discussed. He invested in enlarging the seminary for future priests and in hiring new and prominent professors, preferably Thomists. He called on his brother Giuseppe Pecci, a noted Thomist scholar, to resign his professorship in Rome and to teach in Perugia instead. His own residence was next to the seminary, which facilitated his daily contacts with the students.

Charitable activities

While archbishop, Pecci developed several activities in support of various Catholic charities. He founded homeless shelters for boys, girls and elderly women. Throughout his dioceses, he opened branches of a Bank, Monte di Pietà, which focused on low-income people and provided low-interest loans. He created soup kitchens, which were run by the Capuchins. Upon his elevation to the cardinalate in late 1853, and in light of continuing earthquakes and floods, he donated all resources for the festivities of his elevation to the victims. Much of the public attention turned on the conflict between the Papal States and Italian nationalism, which aimed at the Papal States' annihilation to achieve the Unification of Italy.

Cardinalate

In the consistory of 19 December 1853, he was elevated to the College of Cardinals, as Cardinal-Priest of San Crisogono. Pope Gregory XVI originally intended to name him as a cardinal; however, his death in 1846 put pause to that idea while the events that characterized the beginning of the papacy of Pius IX further postponed the idea of Pecci's elevation. By the time that Gregory XVI died, Leopold II repeatedly asked that Pecci be named as a cardinal. While Pius IX strongly desired having Pecci as close to Rome as possible, and repeatedly offered him a suburbicarian diocese, Pecci continually refused due to his preference for Perugia. It is possible that the archbishop did not share the views of the Cardinal Secretary of State, Giacomo Antonelli. It is not true that Pius IX deliberately sent him to Perugia as a way of exiling him from Rome simply because Pecci's views were perceived to be liberalistic and conciliatory, as opposed to the conservatism of the papal court.

Allegedly, Pecci had been a cardinal reserved "in pectore" by Gregory XVI in the consistory of 19 January 1846, with the pope's death just over four months later invalidating the appointment since his name was never actually revealed publicly.

Pecci defended the papacy and its claims. When Italian authorities expropriated convents and monasteries of Catholic orders, turning them into administration or military buildings, Pecci protested but acted moderately. When the Italian state took over Catholic schools, Pecci, fearing for his theological seminary, simply added all secular topics from other schools and opened the seminary to non-theologians. The new government also levied taxes on the Catholic Church and issued legislation according to which all episcopal or papal utterances were to be approved by the government before their publication.

On 8 December 1869, an ecumenical council, which became known as the First Vatican Council, was to take place in the Vatican per Pope Pius IX. Pecci was likely well informed since the pope named his brother Giuseppe to help prepare the event.

During the 1870s, in his last years in Perugia, Pecci addressed the role of the church in modern society several times, defining the church as the mother of material civilization because it upheld human dignity of working people, opposed the excesses of industrialization, and developed large-scale charities for the needy.

Papacy (1878–1903)

Election

Pope Pius IX died on 7 February 1878. In the conclave, the cardinals faced varied questions and discussed issues like church–state relations in Europe, specifically Italy; divisions in the church; and the status of the First Vatican Council. It was also debated that the conclave be moved elsewhere, but Pecci decided otherwise in his capacity as the camerlengo. On 18 February 1878, the conclave assembled in Rome. Cardinal Pecci was elected on the third ballot and chose the name Leo XIII. He was crowned on 3 March 1878.

During the conclave, he secured his election on the third scrutiny with 44 out of 61 votes, more than the requisite two-thirds majority. While the 1878 conclave was characterized by fewer political influences than in previous conclaves due to a variety of European political crises, it was generally believed that the long papacy of the conservative Pius IX led many of the cardinals to vote for Pecci because his age and health created the expectation that his papacy would be somewhat brief. Following the conclave, John Henry Newman is reported to have said: "In the successor of Pius I recognize a depth of thought, a tenderness of heart, a winning simplicity, and a power answering to the name of Leo, which prevent me from lamenting that Pius is no longer here." In the conclave, Pecci was perceived as the main "papabile" candidate; however, Cardinals Flavio Chigi and Tommaso Martinelli were also considered as potential candidates. But some cardinals who opposed Pecci, and were alarmed at the rising votes he was securing, banded together to cast their ballots for Cardinal Alessandro Franchi; however, Franchi secured no votes in the final ballot that saw Pecci duly elected. Allegedly, those who were dedicated to thwarting his election were Cardinals Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano, Pietro Giannelli, Chigi, Lorenzo Ilarione Randi, Carlo Sacconi, Raffaele Monaco La Valletta, Luigi Amat di San Filippo e Sorso, and Johann Baptist Franzelin. It was also suggested that, before his death, Pius IX heavily favored Cardinal Luigi Bilio to succeed him, and while many of the cardinals created by the late pope intended to vote for Bilio to honor the man who elevated them in the first place, they feared that voting for an ultra-conservative could potentially evoke a veto from one of the European powers and stall the election more than was necessary. To that end, there had been early talks about Austria possibly vetoing Bilio; however, this never occurred. Before the conclave, Cardinals Domenico Bartolini, Monaco, Bilio, Henry Edward Manning, Lorenzo Nina, and Franchi (proposed by Pecci's opponents) all agreed on supporting Pecci's candidacy, also determining that the next pope needed to be an Italian. Both Manning and Edward Henry Howard agreed to persuade the foreign cardinals to back Pecci's candidacy.

Pontificate

As soon as he was elected to the papacy, Leo XIII worked to encourage understanding between the church and the modern world. When he firmly reasserted the scholastic doctrine that science and religion coexist, he required the study of Thomas Aquinas and opened the Vatican Secret Archives to qualified researchers, among whom was the noted historian of the Papacy Ludwig von Pastor. He also refounded the Vatican Observatory

"so that everyone might see clearly that the Church and her Pastors are not opposed to true and solid science, whether human or divine, but that they embrace it, encourage it, and promote it with the fullest possible devotion."

Leo XIII brought normality back to the Catholic Church after the tumultuous years of Pius IX. Leo's intellectual and diplomatic skills helped regain much of the prestige lost with the fall of the Papal States. He tried to reconcile the church with the working class, particularly by dealing with the social changes that were sweeping Europe. The new economic order had resulted in the growth of an impoverished working class who had increasing anticlerical and socialist sympathies. Leo helped reverse that trend.

Although Leo XIII was no radical in either theology or politics, his papacy moved the Catholic Church back to the mainstream of European life. Considered a great diplomat, he managed to improve relations with Russia, Germany, France, Britain and other countries.

Pope Leo XIII was able to reach several agreements in 1896 that resulted in better conditions for the faithful and additional appointments of bishops. During the fifth cholera pandemic in 1891, he ordered the construction of a hospice inside the Vatican. That building would be torn down in 1996 to make way for construction of the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

Leo was a drinker of the cocaine-infused wine tonic Vin Mariani, a precursor drink to Coca-Cola. He awarded a Vatican gold medal to the wine's creator, Angelo Mariani, and also appeared on a poster endorsing it. Leo XIII was a semi-vegetarian. In 1903, he attributed his longevity to the sparing use of meat and the consumption of eggs, milk and vegetables.

Foreign relations

During the Papacy of Leo XIII, the Holy See sought to regain international standing (following the loss of the Papal States) by positioning itself as an arbiter of international disputes.

Leo XIII prioritized common interests between the Holy See and the European colonial powers, tacitly supporting ecclesiastical colonization of Church missions along national lines.

Pope Leo XIII began his pontificate with a friendly letter to Tsar Alexander II in which he reminded the Russian monarch of the millions of Catholics living in his empire who would like to be good Russian subjects if their dignity were respected.

After the assassination of Alexander II, the pope sent a high ranking representative to the coronation of his successor, Alexander III, who was grateful and asked for all religious forces to unify. He asked the pope to ensure that his bishops abstain from political agitation. Relations improved further when Pope Leo XIII, because of Italian considerations, distanced the Vatican from the Rome-Vienna-Berlin alliance, and helped to facilitate a rapprochement between Paris and St. Petersburg.

Under Otto von Bismarck, the anti-Catholic Kulturkampf in Prussia led to significant restrictions on the Catholic Church in the German Empire, including the Jesuits Law of 1872. During Leo's papacy, compromises were informally reached and the anti-Catholic attacks subsided.

The Centre Party in Germany represented Catholic interests and was a force for social change. It was encouraged by Leo's support for social welfare legislation and the rights of working people. Leo's forward-looking approach encouraged Catholic Action in other European countries, where the social teachings of the church were incorporated into the agenda of Catholic parties, particularly the Christian democratic parties, which became an acceptable alternative to socialist parties. Leo's social teachings were reiterated throughout the 20th century by his successors.

In his Memoirs, Emperor Wilhelm II discussed the "friendly, trustful relationship that existed between me and Pope Leo XIII." During Wilhelm's third visit to Leo: "It was of interest to me that the Pope said on this occasion that Germany must be the sword of the Catholic Church. I remarked that the old Roman Empire of the German nation no longer existed, and that conditions had changed. But he adhered to his words."

Theology

Leo XIII also approved a number of Scapulars. In 1885, he approved the Scapular of the Holy Face, (also known as The Veronica) and elevated the Priests of the Holy Face to an archconfraternity. He also approved the Scapular of Our Lady of Good Counsel and the Scapular of St. Joseph, both in 1893, and the Scapular of the Sacred Heart in 1900.

Thomism

As pope, he used all his authority for a revival of the theology of Thomas Aquinas. On 4 August 1879, Leo XIII promulgated the encyclical Aeterni Patris ("Eternal Father") — which, more than any other single document, provided a charter for the revival of Thomism, the medieval theological system based on the thought of Aquinas – as the official philosophical and theological system of the Catholic Church. It was to be normative not only in the training of priests but also in the education of the laity at universities.

Pope Leo XIII later created the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas on 15 October 1879 and ordered the publication of the critical edition, the so-called Leonine Edition, of the complete works of the doctor angelicus. The superintendence of the Leonine edition was entrusted to Tommaso Maria Zigliara, professor and rector of the Collegium Divi Thomae de Urbe, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, today called Angelicum. Leo also founded the Angelicum's Faculty of Philosophy in 1882 and its Faculty of Canon Law in 1896.

Consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart

Leo entered new theological territory in consecrating the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. After he had received many letters from Sister Mary of the Divine Heart, the countess of Droste zu Vischering and Mother Superior in the Convent of the Good Shepherd Sisters in Porto, Portugal, asking him to consecrate the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, he commissioned a group of theologians to examine the petition on the basis of revelation and sacred tradition. The outcome of this investigation was positive and so in the encyclical letter Annum sacrum (on 25 May 1899), he decreed that the consecration of the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus should take place on 11 June 1899.

The encyclical letter also encouraged the entire Catholic episcopate to promote the First Friday Devotions, established June as the Month of the Sacred Heart, and included the Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart.

Prayer

Leo introduced the promotion of monthly prayer intentions in 1890, which he entrusted to the Apostleship of Prayer (now the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network).

Scriptures

In his 1893 encyclical Providentissimus Deus, he described the importance of scriptures for theological study. It was an important encyclical for Catholic theology and its relation to the Bible, as Pope Pius XII pointed out 50 years later in his encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu.

Eastern Catholics

He devoted his encyclical Orientalium dignitas of 1894 to preserving Eastern Catholic liturgies.

Theological research

Leo XIII is credited with great efforts in the areas of scientific and historical analysis. He opened the Vatican Archives and personally fostered a 20-volume comprehensive scientific study of the Papacy by Ludwig von Pastor, an Austrian historian.

Mariology

His predecessor, Pope Pius IX, became known as the Pope of the Immaculate Conception because of his dogmatization in 1854. Leo XIII, in light of his unprecedented promulgation of the rosary in 11 encyclicals, was called the Rosary Pope because he promulgated Marian devotion. In his encyclical on the 50th anniversary of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, he stresses Mary's role in the redemption of humanity and calls her Mediatrix and Co-Redemptrix. While allowing the title "Mediatrix", recent popes, following on the Second Vatican Council, have warned away from the term "co-redemptrix" as derogating from the one mediator, Jesus Christ.

Social teachings

Rerum novarum

His encyclicals changed the church's relations with temporal authorities; the 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum, for the first time, addressed social inequality and social justice issues with papal authority by focusing on the rights and duties of capital and labour. He was greatly influenced by Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler, a German bishop who propagated siding with the suffering working classes in his book Die Arbeiterfrage und das Christentum. Since Leo XIII, many papal teachings have expanded on the rights and obligations of workers. Leo argued that both capitalism and communism are flawed. Rerum novarum introduced the idea of subsidiarity, the principle that political and social decisions should be taken at a local level, if possible, rather than by a central authority, into Catholic social thought.

Consistories

Throughout his pontificate, Leo XIII elevated 147 cardinals in 27 consistories. While the limit of the College of Cardinals had been set at 70 since the papacy of Pope Sixtus V, Leo XIII never exceeded nor reached the limit, only ever coming close at 67 in 1901. Amongst the noteworthy cardinals whom he elevated, he named John Henry Newman as a cardinal while also elevating his own brother Giuseppe Pecci, though not a nepotistic act (it was based purely on recommendation and merit), in the same consistory. In 1893, he elevated Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto to the cardinalate, who would go on to be his immediate successor, Pope Pius X in 1903. The pope also nominated the brothers, Serafino and Vincenzo Vannutelli and the cousins Luigi and Angelo Jacobini to the Sacred College. Other noteworthy inclusions were Andrea Carlo Ferrari (later beatified in 1987) and Girolamo Maria Gotti.

Of the 147 cardinals he elevated, 85 were Italian since Leo XIII nominated cardinals from beyond Europe, including the first cardinals from Australia, Canada, Slovenia, and Armenia, the latter of which would be the first Oriental selection since 1439.

In 1880, the pope named three cardinals "in pectore", announcing them in 1882 and 1884. In 1882, he named another cardinal in pectore, announcing the name later that same year. On 30 December 1889, Leo XIII named only one cardinal whom he reserved in pectore, only announcing the name roughly six months later. In early 1893, he named another two cardinals in pectore, announcing their names in 1894 and 1895, while in April 1901 announcing the names of another two cardinals whom he had reserved in pectore in June 1899. In June 1896, Leo XIII named two other cardinals in pectore, announcing in March 1898 that both had died, hence, vacating the red hats he would have bestowed upon them.

With the elevation of Newman in 1879, it was widely praised throughout the English-speaking world, not simply on the account of Newman's virtues and reputation, but on the basis that Leo XIII had a broader episcopal vision in mind than Pius IX ever did. His similar appointments of two prominent participants of the First Vatican Council, Lajos Haynald and Friedrich Egon von Fürstenberg both in 1879 was also noteworthy due to their roles in the short-lived Council. It was even alleged that Félix Antoine Philibert Dupanloup, a vocal opponent of papal infallibility like Newman, would have been elevated to the cardinalate in 1879 had he not died in October 1878. Additionally, in 1884, the Polish priest and former Curial official Stefan Pawlicki was offered but refused an offer of elevation. Leo XIII later intended to name the Archbishop of Santiago Mariano Santiago Casanova Casanova as a cardinal in 1895; however, the pope abandoned the idea after the Peruvian Church objected that the Archbishop of Lima was the Primate of South America and hence the one that needed to be made a cardinal. In order to avoid a conflict between Chile and Peru, the pope abandoned the idea reluctantly.

Canonizations and beatifications

Leo XIII canonized the following saints during his pontificate:

8 December 1881: Clare of Montefalco (d. 1308), John Baptist de Rossi (1696–1764), Lawrence of Brindisi (d. 1619), and Benedict Joseph Labre (1748–1783)

15 January 1888: Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order, Peter Claver (1581–1654), John Berchmans (1599–1621), and Alphonsus Rodriguez (1531–1617)

27 May 1897: Anthony Zaccaria (1502–1539) and Peter Fourier (1565–1640)

24 May 1900: John Baptist de la Salle (1651–1719) and Rita of Cascia (1381–1457)

Leo XIII beatified several of his predecessors: Urban II (14 July 1881), Victor III (23 July 1887) and Innocent V (9 March 1898). He canonized Adrian III on 2 June 1891.

He also beatified the following:

Giancarlo Melchiori on 22 January 1882

Edmund Campion and Ralph Sherwin in 1886

John Haile on 29 December 1886

Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (whom he later canonized) on 19 February 1888

Inés de Benigánim on 26 February 1888

Antonio Maria Zaccaria (whom he later canonized) on 3 January 1890

Giovanni Giovenale Ancina on 9 February 1890

Pompilio Maria Pirrotti on 26 January 1890

Doctors of the Church

Leo XIII named four individuals as Doctors of the Church:

Cyril of Alexandria (28 July 1882) – he named him as "Doctor Incarnationis" ("Doctor of the Incarnation")

Cyril of Jerusalem (28 July 1882)

John of Damascus (29 August 1890)

Bede the Venerable (13 November 1899) – he named him as "Anglorum doctor" ("Doctor of the English")

Audiences

One of the first audiences that Leo XIII granted was to the professors and students of the Collegio Capranica, where in the first row knelt in front of him the young seminarian Giacomo Della Chiesa, the future Pope Benedict XV, who would be pope from 1914 to 1922.

On a pilgrimage with her father and sister in 1887, Thérèse of Lisieux attended a general audience with Pope Leo XIII and asked him to allow her to enter the Carmelite order. Even though she was strictly forbidden to speak to him because she was told that it would prolong the audience too much, she addressed him with the Pope telling her: "If it is God's will that you should enter the Convent, then it shall be".[a story of a soul]

In July 1884 Pope Leo received the French author Jules Verne and his family in a private audience; he was aware of Verne's scientific style of writing.

St. Michael Prayer and alleged vision

There are several versions of a story of how Leo came to compose the Prayer to Saint Michael. Various dates are given. A common account says that on the morning of 13 October 1884, Leo XIII celebrated Mass but as he finished, he turned to step down the stairs and allegedly collapsed, falling into what was originally thought to be a coma, but was rather a mystical ecstasy. As the priests and cardinals rushed to his side, Leo XIII rose and visibly shaken, brushed off his aides and rushed back towards his apartment where he immediately wrote the Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel. Leo XIII reportedly saw a vision of demons being released from Hell, and as the vision ended, he saw Saint Michael charge in and drive them all back into Hell. Leo XIII mandated that the prayer be said after every Low Mass from that point forth.

In 1934, a German writer, Fr. Bers, tried to trace the origin of the story and declared that, though the story was widespread, nowhere could he find a trace of proof. Sources close to the institution of the prayer in 1886, including an account of a conversation with Leo XIII about his decision, say nothing of the alleged vision. Bers concluded that the story was a later invention that spread like a virus.

Health

At the time of his election in 1878, the pope had started to experience a slight tremor in his hand due to a poorly undertaken bloodletting procedure for a previous malady.

In March 1899, it had been believed that the pope was gravely ill and that he was nearing death. Originally, it was presumed that the pope was suffering from a violent case of pneumonia and that the alarm was raised regarding his health. However, it was soon discovered that the reason for the pope's illness was the sudden inflammation of a cyst which had been troubling him for almost thirty years and which had never been previously removed. The only reason it had never been of any particular concern was due to incisions designed for pain relief. While Leo XIII strongly rejected the notion of surgery at first, he was persuaded by Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro that it was necessary to ensure his good health. Before the pope was taken for surgery, he asked that his chaplain celebrate Mass in his private chapel while the operation was taking place. Reportedly, the cyst removed "was the size of an ordinary-sized orange".

Towards the end of his life, Leo XIII resorted to using a gold-headed cane when going on walks, as he often found it difficult to do so. While Leo XIII was certainly able to walk without it, he only walked without a cane if he truly felt comfortable doing so. When there were ever rumors about his health, Leo XIII was known to mischievously walk about briskly to dispel the rumors.

Death

On 30 June 1903, Leo XIII reported slight feelings of dyspepsia and said that he would take a dose of castor oil to help himself recuperate, shrugging off concerns about his health. While it seemed to work, and the pope resumed his duties with a renewed vigor, it was not to last.

Leo XIII originally contracted a cold while taking an outing in the Vatican Gardens on 3 July 1903; however, his condition rapidly deteriorated to the point that he had contracted pneumonia. That night, he immediately went to bed and lost consciousness. Originally, the pope refused his doctor's desire to secure a second opinion from a colleague, insisting on a doctor who had previously tended to him in 1899 when he suffered a previous serious illness. When the doctor was immediately summoned to the pope's bedside, he determined that the castor oil had disturbed his stomach and exacerbated his condition. The pope's nephews were immediately notified of their uncle's illness, as were Cardinals Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro and Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano in their capacities as the Secretary of State and Camerlengo respectively. On 4 July, the pope made his last confession to Cardinal Serafino Vannutelli and later was barely able to recite the profession of faith. That same day, he experienced a loss of appetite and suffered from shortness of breath. On 5 July, the doctor reported that the hepatisation affected the upper and middle lobes of the right lung, while Leo XIII suffered from considerable cardiac weakness and difficulties in breathing, while reporting the absence of any fever or coughing fits. That same day, after having received the sacraments, the pope said, "I am now near my end. I do not know if all I have done has been good, but I certainly obeyed my conscience and our faith".

On 6 July 1903, he was administered an injection to ease the pain that he was experiencing, while it was reported that the pneumonia he had contracted was starting to spread to the left lung. The pope, who had an imperceptible pulse, had a restless night and was given oxygen by his doctors. When given the oxygen, Leo XIII replied, "That is much better. Before I felt as though I had lost my liberty". That morning, he intimated to those with him that he would prefer it if Cardinal Girolamo Maria Gotti succeeded him in the next conclave. When doctors ordered him to rest, so as not to further aggravate his declining health, Leo XIII said: "If it were only of any use, but I do not believe it would be. The brief remainder of my life must be given to God's Church, not to my own poor comfort". The pope lost consciousness but was awake to receive the sacraments at 9:00 pm before experiencing yet another restless night, marveling, "God's will be done. Who would have believed it when only ten days ago I was presiding over a public consistory?" Leo XIII only slept three hours but severe pain saw him immediately awaken, complaining of pain on both sides of the thorax that forced doctors to move his frail form for better comfort. His situation had previously been critical that afternoon when he was given the Last Rites, while his doctors apprised him of his sudden deterioration. On 7 July, the feeble pope asked that the shutters of his window be opened, saying "I wish to see once more, perhaps for the last time, the rays of the sun". In the nights following, the pope suffered from several coughing fits, perspiring heavily due to his rising fever. The pope felt slightly better enough on 10 July to receive a group of Hungarian pilgrims; however, the pope was exhausted and collapsed after the meeting.

Tributes

Pope Paul VI described Leo XIII as "great and wise", his "first teacher", from whom he had inherited "a pastoral outlook and a pastoral approach".

Upon his election in 2025, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost assumed the name Leo XIV in honor of Leo XIII. Leo XIV stated that one of the main reasons he chose his papal name was because of the social justice encyclical Rerum novarum that was written by Pope Leo XIII.

Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Florida, is partially named for Pope Leo XIII, as well as for Pope Leo I.

In sound recording and film

Leo XIII was the first pope whose voice was recorded. The recording can be found on a compact disc of Alessandro Moreschi's singing; a recording of his praying of the Ave Maria is available on the web. He was also the first pope to be filmed by a motion picture camera. He was filmed in 1898 by inventor W. K. Dickson, and blessed the camera while being filmed. The video contains three segments: the pope on a throne, the pope arriving in a horse-drawn carriage, and the pope taking a seat on a bench. Born in 1810, he may also be the earliest-born known person to appear in a film.

In the 2024 film Cabrini, Pope Leo XIII is depicted by Giancarlo Giannini in several scenes offering his support to Mother Cabrini for her mission in the United States in 1889 and thereafter.