Looking Back on Pope Leo XIII’s Aeterni Patris, by Dr. Donald DeMarco

By Dr. Donald DeMarco, Catholic Exchange, May 23, 2025

Dr. Donald DeMarco is Professor Emeritus, St. Jerome’s University and Adjunct Professor at Holy Apostles College. He is is the author of 42 books, a former corresponding member of the Pontifical Academy of Life, and a Member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Christian Personalism in The Netherlands.  …

The fact that Robert Cardinal Prevost has taken the name Leo IV, indicating his respect for his predecessor, Leo XIII, provides Catholics with a strong incentive to return to the latter’s encyclicals.  Pope Leo’s encyclical Rerum Novarum which the new pope mentioned in particular, deals with the worker.  The encyclical outlined here, Aeterni Patris, concerns philosophy.  There can be no doubt that these two encyclicals complement each other while providing important contributions concerning how Catholics should live and how they should think.

Like Rerum Novarum, (“On the Condition of Labor”), Aeterni Patris (“Of the Eternal Father”) is of particular relevance for today’s world that suffers from both social injustice and intellectual confusion.  The sesquipedalian title given to Aeterni Patris is “On the Restoration of Christian Philosophy in the Spirit of the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas.” …

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