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| | Pope Leo XIII - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
 | | Pope Leo XIII, born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci (March 2, 1810 – July 20, 1903), was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, having succeeded Pope Pius IX (1846–78) on February 20, 1878 and reigning until his death in 1903. |
 | | Leo XIII was also the first Pope to come out strongly in favour of the French Republic, upsetting many French monarchists, but his support for democracy did not necessarily imply his acceptance of egalitarianism: "People differ in capacity, skill, health, strength; and unequal fortune is a necessary result of unequal condition. |
 | | Leo XIII's regnal length was subsequently exceeded by that of Pope John Paul II on March 14, 2004. |
| en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Pope_Leo_XIII (762 words) |
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