Rerum Novarum

of new things
Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor

Pope Leo XIII

March

15, 1891 was the date

when rerum novarum was
promulgated

Rerum Novarum
Leo

XIII addressesRerum
Novarumto the bishops of the
Catholic Church
He introduces his reflections by
highlighting the social difficulties
of the day.

Five key issues

private

property
the right of the Church to speak
on social issues
the role of the state
the workers right to a just wage
the importance of worker
associations.

Rerum Novarum
the

Industrial Revolution has

encouraged humankind to ask
questions about a variety of
social issues, such as the
relationship between employers
and employees, the just
distribution of wealth, the
growing isolation of workers, the
role of worker associations, and
the decline in moral values.

Rerum Novarum
He

informed the bishops of the

wretched living conditions of the
poor
He proposes that Catholic Church
leaders must once again refute
the errors that have led to such
social evils

Rerum Novarum
Hestates

that workers are left unprotected

because the workers guilds of old are no
longer intact and political institutions have
rejected religious teaching.
He explains that the power of industry is
controlled by a few factory owners who are
becoming rich from the hard labor of the
working class.
The lower class suffers from poor working
conditions and low wages, and their
animosity toward the owning class is
escalating.

Rerum Novarum
He

said socialists are seeking to

eliminate class division by proposing that
possessions be held in common and
private property eliminated
In response to the socialist he argued
that the right to own private property. He
explains that people have the capacity to
plan for the future. By possessing land,
people can attain the security of owning
something with stable value and can
enjoy the yearly fruit of the land.