The new Pope, Catholic Social Teaching and a second industrial revolution

What's the deeper significance of the new pope's papal name?

In just his second day in the job, the new Pope Leo XIV dropped a fascinating hint as to what his priorities may be in the Vatican. It turns out he chose his name to honour the last Pope Leo XIII, who issued a famous and highly significant teaching document back in 1893. This not only laid out a new pro-worker approach from the Catholic Church at the height of the industrial revolution upending Western society, it also set the foundations of what has become Catholic Social Teaching. Now, the new Pope Leo has said the church’s social teaching may be needed for a fresh industrial revolution – one powered not by steam engines but artificial intelligence. To untangle what on earth he might mean, we are joined this week by Catholic theologian and Pope Leo XIII expert Luke Arredondo.

Listen to other episodes of Matters of Life and Death or find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts, Podcast Addict, Castbox or whatever app you use to subscribe and receive new episodes sent straight to your device.

Tags
Most read posts
What can we learn from how the early church lived out their faith during their own pandemics?
How are young people different to those who came before, and what can we learn from them?
Navigating the transitions of later life
This Bill is the wrong approach - there is a better way to give individuals and their families dignity at the end of life
Living faithfully as we approach retirement, dependence, dementia and death
Recent posts
How to resist the allure of treating our humanity as a Lego kit
Surplus embryos, genetic testing and the sovereignty of God
The immigration and asylum culture wars, with Krish Kandiah
Turning to perhaps the most avoided book of the Bible as we lean into re-enchantment