# Pope Leo XIII - Pope

URL: https://christianity-history.com/popes/pope-leo-xiii
Pontificate: 20 February 1878 – 20 July 1903
Number in the papal list: 256
Born-Died: 1810-03-02 - 1903-07-20
Papal era: Modern Papacy
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIII

French citizen of Italian ethnicity, later becoming a subject of the Papal States and finally an Italian citizen. Issued the encyclical Rerum novarum (1891), supporting Christian democracy against Communism.

## Succession
- Previous in list: [Pope Pius IX](https://christianity-history.com/popes/pope-pius-ix)
- Next in list: [Pope Pius X](https://christianity-history.com/popes/pope-pius-x)

## Timeline events during this pontificate
- 1879 - [Aeterni Patris](https://christianity-history.com/timeline/1879-aeterni-patris)
- 1886 - [Martyrs of Uganda](https://christianity-history.com/timeline/1886-martyrs-of-uganda)
- 1891 - [Rerum novarum](https://christianity-history.com/timeline/1891-rerum-novarum)
- 1896 - [Apostolicae curae](https://christianity-history.com/timeline/1896-apostolicae-curae)
- 1900 - [Boxer Rebellion](https://christianity-history.com/timeline/1900-boxer-rebellion)