History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v2.c29.s2.923

v2.c29.s2.923

The pontificate of Leo XIII (1878–1903) marked a new departure. He realized that the Church could not remain in isolation from the modern world. He accepted the Republic in France, he encouraged the study of the social question, and he sought to reconcile the Church with the progress of science and democracy. His encyclical *Rerum Novarum* (1891) was a landmark in the history of the Church's social teaching. It recognized the rights of the workers and the duties of the state, and it provided a basis for a Catholic social movement which was to have a profound influence on the development of modern society.