A definitive collection of the principal social encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII, arranged according to the order expressly indicated by Leo himself, and presented by one of the twentieth century’s great Catholic philosophers.
Catholics should not hope to restore any Christian political and social order on any other foundation than the philosophy of St. Thomas.Étienne Gilson, Introduction
Gilson presents Leo XIII’s encyclicals as a living doctrinal body: ordered, Thomistic, political, social, and missionary. His introductions and summaries help the reader see the deep unity of Leo’s teaching without distracting from the papal texts themselves.
In the present pontificate of Leo XIV, this volume takes on fresh urgency: the name Leo naturally recalls the pope who gave the modern Church one of her clearest and most comprehensive responses to liberalism, socialism, naturalism, false liberty, and the social question.
This is a new edition of Étienne Gilson's compendium of Pope Leo XIII's social encyclicals as arranged by the Pope himself. Originally published in 1954, this new edition features a foreword by Thomas Storck. It is newly typeset and presented in a larger 6 × 9 trim size for easier readability. All the original endnotes have been converted into footnotes.
In The Church Speaks to the Modern World, Gilson presented the basic encyclicals of Leo XIII arranged in the order expressly indicated by the Pope himself. Gilson’s introduction provides the proper perspective for the encyclicals; his notes clarify obscure points; his summaries provide an immediate grasp of each encyclical; and his study of the variant translations is an invaluable scholarly aid.
Here, in a single volume, is a collection of some of the most important and far-reaching papal pronouncements of the modern age.
The modern world continues to wrestle with the questions Leo XIII addressed: liberty, authority, marriage, labor, private property, socialism, naturalism, Freemasonry, the duties of citizens, and the Christian constitution of civil society.
Leo begins social restoration with Christian philosophy and the doctrine of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Against license and indifferentism, liberty is understood as ordered to truth, law, and the good.
Leo treats capital, labor, property, the family, Christian citizenship, political authority, and the common good.
The Church engages the modern world not by capitulation, but by bringing Christ to the world and the world to Christ.
Gilson’s edition gathers the central texts of the Leonine social corpus, together with introductions and summaries that make its doctrinal architecture visible.
On the evils affecting modern society.
On slavery and its abolition.
On Christian democracy.
Introduction, summaries, annotations, bibliographical note, and indexes.
What does Pope Leo XIII teach about liberty when liberty is no longer ordered to truth?
Why did Leo regard the restoration of Christian philosophy as essential for social order?
How do the rights and duties of capital and labor depend upon a correct doctrine of man?
What does it mean for the Church to speak to the modern world without becoming modernist?
From Christian philosophy to liberty, marriage, civil government, labor, citizenship, and the errors of modern society, the volume reveals the architecture of Leo XIII’s social teaching.
The principal social encyclicals of Leo XIII, arranged as a coherent doctrinal body, together with Gilson’s introduction, summaries, notes, appendix, bibliographical material, and indexes.
From Christian philosophy to liberty, marriage, civil government, labor, citizenship, and the errors of modern society, the contents reveal the architecture of Leo XIII’s social teaching.
Scholars of theology, philosophy, history, and Catholic social teaching commend this volume as a necessary recovery of Leo XIII’s full social doctrine for the present age.
The Church Speaks to the Modern World is the best collection of Pope Leo XIII’s social teachings. Etienne Gilson’s short introductions to each document help the reader to grasp the sapiential order and cohesion of Pope Leo’s teaching, without getting in the way of the documents themselves.
“The greatest pope since the Reformation” is a towering figure, basking in the light of all that came before him and casting his protective shadow over everyone who recognizes his greatness. Here, bound in a single volume, are the principal acts of his pontificate introduced and explained by one of the greatest figures of the revival Leo accomplished. Every citizen, every statesman, every parent, every student should read and ponder this book a hundred times.
Gilson’s edition, coming just before the Second Vatican Council, presents this teaching in its entirety, something that has been less usual in the post-conciliar period. This republication will contribute greatly to the recovery of the fullness of Catholic teaching on political, social and economic questions.
Now more than ever we need the sobriety and crystal clarity concerning political, cultural, and economic matters that characterize Pope Leo XIII’s social encyclicals, many of which are unjustly neglected today. This welcome reissue will help to remedy that, and thereby contribute to the good of the Church and of society.
Founded on the unchanging principles of the social nature of man and its restoration in Christ, the encyclicals in this volume (with its helpful introduction, notes, and reading guides) speak to every age. For, to paraphrase one very old author, in human affairs, there is finally nothing really new under the sun.
The writings of Pope Leo XIII mark a decisive turning point in the history of the Church’s effort to engage modernity. The encyclicals collected in this volume are essential reading for those Catholics who wish to continue this engagement in our own time. These writings make clear that Leo refused to settle for a simple modus vivendi with secular modernity; rather, he saw engagement as but a modern instance of the Church’s perennial mission to bring Christ to the world and the world to Christ.
The endorsers stress the importance of recovering Leo XIII’s social teaching in its breadth, order, and doctrinal cohesion.
Gilson’s introductions, notes, summaries, and reading guides illuminate the architecture of the papal teaching without obscuring the documents themselves.
Leo’s encounter with modernity is understood not as capitulation, but as an expression of the Church’s perennial mission to bring all things under Christ.
Political authority, labor, property, culture, family, and social order remain permanent questions, giving the Leonine corpus continuing importance.
The praise is united by one conviction: Leo XIII’s social encyclicals remain indispensable for Catholics seeking clarity about political, cultural, economic, and social life under Christ.
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