Alleged to have been a mason. Personally, I sincerely doubt it.
"As a personal aside, Pope Leo XIII should be a saint. I wonder how his cause is coming along?"
I disagree. I believe he got far too much far too wrong. Then again, I'm an Orthodox Christian and +Leo XIII is not high on our hit parade of great popes, though +BXVI certainly is!
“”I’m an Orthodox Christian and +Leo XIII is not high on our hit parade of great popes, though +BXVI certainly is! “”
I curious as to why because I have read so many of Pope Leo XIII’s letters and encyclicals and there are many similarities to Pope Benedict XVI,especially his social teaching
Here is something from one of his encyclicals you might like
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/leo_xiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_20111901_urbanitatis-veteris_en.html
Excerpt...
Moreover, if We are to speak of Christian issues, the Greek practice of the sacraments has always been approved by Us: in the ceremonies and sacred rites which Greece takes care to preserve spotless, as they have been received from their ancestors, We have always paid reverence to this image of ancient custom and majesty joined with variety. And since it is both right and expedient that these rites should remain as incorrupt as they are, We have restored to its original plan and pristine form the Roman College, named after Athanasius the Great, for students of the Greek rite. Likewise the reverence due to the Fathers and Doctors which Greece has produced, and they were by God’s benevolence many and great, has only increased with time. Practically from the beginning of Our Pontificate, We have determined to give greater honor to Cyril and Methodius. It has been Our desire, led by devotion, to make better known from east to west the virtues and deeds of both these men so that they, deserving of a universal Catholic name, may be more reverently cherished by Catholics everywhere.