Vincenzo Gioacchino Pecci (1810–1903) was born at Carpineto Romano in the Papal States, studied at the Roman College and the Academy of Noble Ecclesiastics, and served as papal delegate at Benevento and Perugia and as nuncio to Belgium (1843–1846), where he observed an industrial society at first hand. As Bishop (later Archbishop) of Perugia from 1846 to 1878 he wrote pastoral letters on the Church and modern civilization. Elected pope in February 1878, he took the name Leo XIII and reigned for twenty-five years. His encyclicals included Aeterni Patris (1879) on the study of Thomas Aquinas, Immortale Dei (1885) on the Christian constitution of states, Libertas (1888) on human liberty, and Rerum Novarum (1891).
Rerum Novarum, issued by Pope Leo XIII on 15 May 1891 and addressed to the bishops of the Catholic world, takes its Latin title from its opening words about the spirit of revolutionary change. Its English title is On the Condition of the Working Classes.
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