Rerum Novarum Explained: Catholic Social Teaching
What does Rerum Novarum say about human dignity, the family, just wages, and Catholic social doctrine? And how does this fit into a Culture of Life?
In this episode, Fr. Shenan Boquet breaks down the key principles of Rerum Novarum, the landmark 1891 encyclical by Pope Leo XIII that laid the foundation for modern Catholic Social Teaching.
With the recent election of Pope Leo XIV, who invoked Rerum Novarum in his very first address, we explore what this could mean for the Church’s engagement with urgent modern issues: demographic winter, falling birth rates, AI, the collapse of the family, and global economic injustice.
This episode covers:
• What is Rerum Novarum?
• Key principles of Catholic Social Teaching (human dignity, subsidiarity, solidarity)
• The Church’s teaching on the just wage (and if this could turn the demographic winter around)
• How Catholic social doctrine intersects with sexual morality and pro-life ethics
• How Pope Leo XIV might apply these teachings to modern crises—including artificial intelligence and the population crisis
Follow HLI’s podcast on social media: @cultureoflife_podcast | Instagram, @cultureoflife_p / X.
The Father’s Heart: Healing the Wounds of a Fatherless Generation