Social Politics in Relation to the Workers ”˜Problem and the Unions, in the Light of the Encyclical Rerum Novarum of Pope Leon XIII

Abstract

This article deals with the influence of the encyclical Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIII on social politics, this document that, given the immutability of Christian doctrine and morality, stands as an open letter to politicians of all times. It is a scientific analysis that shows the relationship between the petrine teaching and the social politics of the nineteenth century, all under qualitative and morphological methods, having as references the archeology of primary and secondary sources on the subject. This investigation shows how the work of Leo XIII reacted to the workers”™ problem, which was one of the fields in which dignity and human rights were most violated. Likewise, the Pontiff presents himself as a promoter of the creation of unions and associations that gave strength to the workers”™ union, since they no longer acted in a solipsistic way, but together, which
made them stronger.