Exploring the Significance: Leo XIV and Navigating Historical Transitions

What’s in a name? A lot, it turns out.

Matteo Bruni, a Vatican spokesman, said that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost’s choice to be called Pope Leo XIV was a clear and deliberate reference to the last Leo, who led during a difficult time for the Roman Catholic Church and helped to modernize it.

Leo XIII, who was head of the church from 1878 to 1903, is known for his 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” which defended the rights of working people to a living wage and set the tone for the church’s modern social doctrine.

David I. Kertzer, a professor at Brown University, noted that Leo XIII was a transitional figure reaching out to the poor and working class in order to address the rising socialist threat, and create an amicable relationship between capital and labor.

The choice of the name Leo XIV is a moderate reference to follow Francis while taking the edges off, said Professor Kertzer.

Leo XIII was a strong pope who was very engaged in the issues of his time, said Robert Orsi, a professor of religious studies and history at Northwestern University.

Choosing to be called Leo XIV could signal the new pope’s intention to equally engage the issues of his time and promote a global church open to the world, which may be an indication that he’ll challenge resurgent nationalism everywhere in the world.

Mr. Bruni, the Vatican spokesman, said that choosing the name of a pope associated with the church’s modern doctrine was clearly a reference to the lives of men and women, and their work.

Leo XIII began his reign with the papacy having lost its temporal power and sought to reinforce that the role retained a moral authority that reached beyond national borders.