In church history, Pope ‘Leo’ name carries significance

When someone accepts election as pontiff, there undergoes a change in that individual, not only in life purpose in leading global Catholicism for, presumably, the rest of one’s life, but in one’s own identity, seen in leaving one’s own name and thereafter accepting a new name. 

And it is a new name chosen as an identification of that new path for himself and for the church.

So, what exactly led American Cardinal Robert Prevost to choose a name, not a new one never before chosen as his predecessor Francis did, but rather one used 13 times before, though not in the last century and a half.

According to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, the choice of the name “Leo” is a direct and deliberate reference to Pope Leo XIII’s legacy, especially the encyclical “Rerum Novarum” as the foundation for modern Catholic Social Teaching.

Beyond what the current possessor of the name wanted to say in choosing “Leo” about himself, what are other elements embedded in the almost 1,600-year papal history?

Well, some good, some not so good. 

Several Pope Leos were reformers, others not serving long enough to lead any reform. Some sought to be unifiers, as reporting from the conclave seems to suggest led in part to the election of Leo XIV, while others were dividers. Several were involved in the great events that we now look at marking European and world history, and some in the middle of turbulent times. And five of Leo XIV’s predecessors were canonized as saints.

Leo as a papal name is the fourth most common name for a pope, surpassed only by John (the last being John XXIII from 1958-1963), Benedict (Benedict XVI from 2005-2013) and Gregory (Gregory XVI from 1831-1846).

St. Leo I (440-461) is one of only three popes called “the Great,” as is seen in the name of the church in New Orleans. He also is one of only two popes proclaimed a doctor of the church, a title held by only 37 that recognizes the significant contributions to Catholic theology and/or doctrine as well as outstanding holiness and deep faith insights.

A dynamic figure, Leo I impacted the church’s theology, strengthened papal authority and primacy as the successor of St. Peter as bishop of Rome, negotiated multiple times to save Rome from destruction, fought the spread of heresies to promote goodness of humanity and God’s grace, and, yet, was also known for his pastoral care and promotion of charitable works for those suffering from famine, poverty and dislocation.

While best known for persuading Attila the Hun not to invade Rome in 452 and then negotiating with the Vandals three years later to prevent the sacking of the city, his long-lasting impact on Catholicism came at the Council of Chalcedon, which defined the doctrine that Christ has two natures, fully divine and fully human, united in one person.

St. Leo II (682-683) was the first short-serving pope of this name, lasting just 10 months. In that time, he was able to strongly condemn the Monothelitism heresy diminishing Christ’s full humanity and encourage the developments of chant in singing and music for liturgical use to enhance worship.

Elected in the midst of great factionalism that led to his being attacked while in office, St.Leo III (795-816) established, through the crowning of Charlemagne as emperor, the role of the papacy in legitimizing secular rulers which, as a consequence, tied the church to secular power and alliances. That served both to protect the papacy and make it subject to political winds blowing through Europe.

At the same time, his support for the Filioque doctrine that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son, and his assertion of Roman supremacy in the church led to the growing theological and political tensions rising between the Western (Roman) and Eastern (Byzantine) churches. He died as a result of an assassination attempt by Saracen/Muslim tribes after the death of Charlemagne.

St. Leo IV (847-855), a Benedictine monk, faced the continuing threat of raids from the Saracens, leading repairs and defenses of Rome and churches, including St. Peter’s Basilica, and building an Italian maritime coalition that won a decisive battle that helped promote the autonomy of the Papal States. He also reaffirmed Catholic teaching, including the veneration of sacred images.

Leo V (903) was a simple priest, who served less than two months in the midst of papal instability, known as Saeculum obscurum (“the dark ages”) of the papacy, before being deposed, imprisoned and either murdered or dying of natural causes.

The third short-reigning of the first six Leo popes, Leo VI (928-929) served less than eight months during the era’s papal turbulence. Yet during his short pontificate, he was successful in ordering bishops to respect diocesan boundaries, developed regulations regarding marriage and issued an appeal, that was going to be made by future popes, for Christian support against Saracen raids, promising spiritual rewards in the afterlife for defending Rome.

Yet another short reign came a decade later with the pontificate of Benedictine monk Leo VII (936-939), who was known for promoting monastic reform and granting monasteries land and privileges as well as reform of church administration and clergy. While forbidding forced conversions of Jews in Germany, the pontiff did open up a dark and tragic chapter in the church permitting their expulsion if they refused baptism to Christianity. This policy contributed to the broader trend of church-sanctioned antisemitism, influencing broader secular treatment to Jews throughout Europe.

The only Leo to have been seen to have been an anti-pope (963-964) and pope (964-965), Leo VIII was in opposition to the officially elected popes – John XII and Benedict V – for a 6 1/2-month period before being legitimized. During his eight-month reign, he granted papal rights over the church and secular leadership to Holy Roman Emperors, marking a major shift in church-state relations brought on by the weakened papacy.

Like a later namesake successor, Leo IX (1049-1054) was a reformer, specifically, in his case, a leader of the 11th-century church reformation against such practices as simony (the buying and selling of church offices), relaxation of clerical celibacy and appointment of church officials by secular rulers. His gathering of a circle of like-minded reformers, including the future Pope Gregory VII, helped transform the papacy into an international source of political power and support, which had the unintended consequences of generating criticism for its temporal expansion of power.

He strengthened papal authority, promoting the primacy of the papacy, traveling more than any previous pope to hold councils, decry the heresy denying that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Christ and personally enforce reforms and directly confronted secular rulers.

Yet, the deterioration of relations with the Byzantine Church, disputes over doctrine and practices and the excommunication of the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1054 may be his most long-lasting and tragic legacy, triggering the Great Schism, permanently dividing Roman and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Almost 500 years later, it was Leo X (1513-1521) who was involved in the further splitting of Christianity. Born into the powerful Medici family of Florence, he carried their Renaissance support of the arts as a major patron, initiating major projects in Rome and the Vatican, including the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica and funding many artisans and artists, such as Michelangelo and Raphael.

His pontificate was noted for expanding papal power, involving the Vatican in European wars and lavish spending, which strained the papal treasury and led to his authorizing widespread sale of indulgences for the remission of sins. It was this practice that was a catalyst for public outrage and led to Martin Luther proclaiming his 95 Theses in 1517, which condemned church corruption and ignited the Protestant Reformation.

Four years later, while trying and failing to suppress growing religious dissent, Leo X excommunicated Luther. But without acting on any needed reforms, as agreed by the church’s own Fifth Lateran Council, the pontiff’s attempts to silence critics only fueled the Reformation to spread, splitting Christianity further.

The great nephew of Pope Leo X and himself a member of the influential Medici family, Leo XI (1605)has the distinction of being one of the shortest-reigning pontiffs at 27 days. And yet, he is remembered for his integrity as he was still in that time able to lower taxes in the Papal States, appoint a commission to reform the voting process in papal conclaves, strongly oppose nepotism (to the detriment of his own nephew) in church appointments and send aid to Hungary in their war against the Turks.

A conservative and authoritarian pontiff elected despite poor health, Leo XII (1823-1829) focused on maintaining church authority, restoring traditional Catholic values in a post-Napoleonic time of political and cultural liberalization sweeping Europe. Among his policies included reinstating aristocratic privilege in the Papal States, reducing government expenditures and taxation and cracking down on church inefficient management and corrupt officials.

But he also strengthened the Inquisition to combat liberal ideals and Protestant proselytism, confined Jews back into their ghettos in Rome reversing previous freedoms, imposed strict surveillance, repression and harsh punishments for dissent, required strict religious observance of Roman residents, restricted social activities and suspended smallpox vaccinations. These repressive policies led to insurrections, instability and social unrest in the region of and surrounding the Papal States.

If Pope Leo XIV was looking for a papal model for making lasting and systemic change in church and society, he would have been hard pressed to find many better than his named predecessor.

Leo XIII (1878-1903) envisioned a papacy that was not at war with society, but rather constructively engaged with it, with civil governments, with the scientific and educational communities and with different faiths. By doing so, he hoped to restore the church’s influence in public life and to help resolve tensions in the world while maintaining the church’s independence.

“Rerum Novarum” (1891) marked a completely new chapter in the church responding to social upheaval caused by the Industrial Revolution. In it, Leo XIII advocated for workers’ rights, calling for fair and just wages, reasonable working hours, safe work conditions, restrictions protecting women and children in the workplace and the right to form unions and associations as a guard against worker exploitation. The encyclical called upon governments to intervene for its peoples to ensure social justice, while cautioning against excessive control.

He sought a “third way” between the excesses and abuses of unregulated capitalism and of socialism to uphold both workers’ dignity and protections and the legitimacy and protection of private property rights. In doing so, Leo XIII also demanded church involvement in advocating for social and economic justice and pointed to the inherent human dignity of every person, the prioritization of the needs of the poor and marginalized and the insistence that work must serve people, not people work.

He promoted the connection between science and religion after centuries of discouraging scientific progress and engagement, re-founding the Vatican Observatory and opening the Vatican Archives to outside researchers. He championed church reform in governance, establishing diocesan synods and supported Catholic action to increase lay participation.

Leo XIII also engaged with Eastern Orthodox churches and sought to bridge centuries-long divisions with Anglicans and other Christian communities, while also managing to improve church relations with a variety of nations, including Britain, France, Germany and Russia.

What lessons Leo XIV chooses to learn from the history of the papacy and from those specifically who carried his name before him and how much of his own imprint he can make in this 267th pontificate remains to be seen.