See Also: Leo XIII(encyclopedia)
factor XIII(medicine)
XIII (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
Louis XIII(encyclopedia)
Gregory XIII(encyclopedia)
Charles XIII(encyclopedia)
Benedict XIII(encyclopedia)
Alfonso XIII(encyclopedia)
Gregory XIII(dictionary)
Louis XIII style(encyclopedia)

Leo XIII (sh)




orig. Vincenzo Gioacchino Pecci

born March 2, 1810, Carpineto Romano, Papal States
died July 20, 1903, Rome

Pope (1878-1903).

Born into the Italian nobility, he was ordained a priest in 1837 and entered the diplomatic service of the Papal States. He was appointed bishop of Perugia in 1846 and was named a cardinal in 1853. He was elected pope in 1878, and, despite his advanced age and frail health, he directed the church for a quarter of a century. Like his predecessor, Pius IX, he opposed Freemasonry and secular liberalism, but he brought a new spirit to the papacy by adopting a conciliatory attitude toward civil governments and taking a more positive view of scientific progress.


Leo XIII, 1878

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