Pope Leo XIV Calls for a New 'Rerum Novarum'

A frightening thought! Given the Left-wing bent of the Church today, it could be an out-and-out communist document. God spare us!

From Aleteia

By Daniel Esparza

In the words of the Catechism (§1939), “Solidarity is a direct demand of human and Christian brotherhood.”

When Pope Leo XIV stood before hundreds of grassroots leaders gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on October 23, 2025, his voice carried both urgency and hope. Speaking to representatives of grassroots movements from around the world, he declared that “exclusion is the new face of social injustice.” His words, firm yet pastoral, outlined what many are calling a Rerum Novarum for the twenty-first century.

The reference was intentional. Leo XIV chose his papal name in honor of Leo XIII, who in 1891 issued Rerum Novarum, the encyclical that laid the foundations of modern Catholic social teaching. Then, the Church spoke into the industrial age, defending workers’ rights and human dignity amid the rise of capitalism. Today, the Successor of Peter speaks into an age defined by automation, inequality, and digital dependence.

Like his predecessors, the Pope reminded listeners that the cry for “land, housing, and work” must not fade.

“The just paths,” he said, “move from the local and the periphery toward the center.” He lamented that while global markets have spread technology everywhere, basic needs remain unmet for millions. The paradox of our time, he observed, is that connection does not equal communion.

Leo XIV’s analysis reached beyond economics. He warned of “the moral ambiguity of progress” — the way technological advances can serve both healing and harm. He decried the pharmaceutical profits that coexist with the proliferation of deadly synthetic drugs, the “idolization of the body” that erases the meaning of suffering, and the rise of digital addiction designed to keep hearts restless and minds distracted.

His critique was not a rejection of progress, but a plea for conscience. “The world’s poorest,” he said, “pay the highest price for our convenience.”

He cited the violence and child labor linked to mining coltan and lithium — minerals that power our phones and electric cars — and condemned the exploitation of fragile nations for economic gain. Echoing Laudato Si’, he warned that ecological devastation and social injustice are two faces of the same wound.

The Pope’s plea also extended to migrants. While affirming the right of nations to guard their borders, he insisted that this must be “balanced by the moral duty to offer refuge.” Policies that treat human beings as “disposable,” he said, betray not only Gospel values but our shared humanity.

At the heart of his address was a diagnosis: our age suffers from an ethical vacuum. Institutions once meant to protect the vulnerable — unions, states, international bodies — are weakened or distrusted. Into this void, the Pope called for a renewal of solidarity: creative initiatives from ordinary people that might grow into new forms of social justice.

Like Rerum Novarum in 1891, this speech does not close a chapter but opens one. It asks believers and non-believers alike to imagine a society where technology serves life, where profit bows to dignity, and where no one is left behind. In the words of the Catechism (§1939), “Solidarity is a direct demand of human and Christian brotherhood.” Pope Leo XIV’s message is clear: our shared future depends on recovering that brotherhood — one act of justice at a time.