Denver Catholic

T he Church has always taught that the Gospel bears social implications, shaping how Chris- tians live in the world. Catholic Social Teach- ing (CST), however, developed only when the fabric of Christendom — the legacy of Christian culture — had worn thin. Political revolutions overturned longstanding monarchies aligned with the Church, and the Industrial Revolution displaced family patterns rooted in the land and shaped by religious customs. In short, Catholic Social Teaching sought to apply the Church's teaching to a dramatically changing situation as society embraced secularization and new eco- nomic realities. We certainly continue to face fast-paced social change, and the Church continues to respond, as we see in Pope Leo XIV's recent encyclical on artificial intelligence, Magnifica Humanitas. Pope Leo situates his message as a continued unfolding of the approach of his predecessor and namesake, Pope Leo XIII, who addressed the profound changes afoot in indus- trialization: "While Leo XIII spoke in his time of 'new things' (rerum novarum), today we cannot limit ourselves simply to repeating his insight- ful teachings. Instead, we must ask God for the wisdom to interpret the great trends of our time, particularly technological advances" (4). When Pope Leo XIII wrote Rerum Novarum, it was to address the objectification of workers, who were used solely to generate profits. He re-situated their work in light of the family's flourishing and the need for workers to be able to worship God on Sundays and earn a living wage. He provided a model that the Church continues to follow: using natural principles of reason and justice, illuminated by the Gospel, to guide the Christian response to the problems of the day. ⊲ PRIMER POPE LEO XIII'S land- mark encyclical, Rerum Novarum, addresses the dignity of work, workers' rights and the responsi- bilities of society. DENVER CATHOLIC | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2026 5

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