Religious Liberty Between Popes Leo XIII & XIV

In an insightful essay recently published at Public Discourse, legal scholar Gerry Bradley examines the teachings regarding church and state between the last two Leonine popes. The former, Leo XIII, inaugurated—among other things—the modern genre of Catholic Social Teaching with his landmark encyclical Rerum Novarum in 1891. The latter, Leo XIV (formerly Robert Prevost), was elected and crowned in May, 2025, and currently serves as the first American-born pope in history. Read Full Article »