Ten minutes a day reading the Catholic Church’s social encyclicals.

This episode begins Rerum Novarum, a landmark document for the Church, written by Pope Leo XIII who is considered to be the father of Catholic Social Teaching and is the namesake of Pope Leo XIV.

This podcast exists for people who want to work their way through catholic social teaching, but struggle to find the time. Each episode offers about ten minutes of a simple, uninterrupted audio reading from the documents themselves.

Core Documents of Catholic Social Teaching

Rerum Novarum — Pope Leo XIII (1891)
Quadragesimo Anno — Pope Pius XI (1931)
Mater et Magistra — Pope John XXIII (1961)
Pacem in Terris — Pope John XXIII (1963)
Gaudium et Spes — Second Vatican Council (1965)
Populorum Progressio — Pope Paul VI (1967)
Octogesima Adveniens — Pope Paul VI (1971)
Justice in the World — Synod of Bishops (1971)
Evangelii Nuntiandi — Pope Paul VI (1975)
Redemptor Hominis — Pope John Paul II (1979)
Laborem Exercens — Pope John Paul II (1981)
Sollicitudo Rei Socialis — Pope John Paul II (1987)
Centesimus Annus — Pope John Paul II (1991)
Evangelium Vitae — Pope John Paul II (1995)
Deus Caritas Est — Pope Benedict XVI (2005)
Caritas in Veritate — Pope Benedict XVI (2009)
Evangelii Gaudium — Pope Francis (2013)
Laudato Si’ — Pope Francis (2015)
Fratelli Tutti — Pope Francis (2020)
Querida Amazonia — Pope Francis (2020)
Laudate Deum — Pope Francis (2023)

If you’d like to follow along with the text, all documents are available online through the Vatican website.

Rerum Novarum (Part 1) Beginning the Encyclical