Archive videos

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This is the first ever video ever recorded of a Pope. On it the 19th century Pope Leo XIII smiles, waves and blesses. Dated 1896 the video shows Pope Leo XIII in the Vatican and in the last half a recording of him singing the AVE MARIA is heard. Born in 1820 Pope Leo is one of the earliest-born people ever to have been filmed.

Pope Leo XIII was one of the most important contributors to the making of the modern Catholic Church; he is remembered for his encyclical Rerum Novarum,  the foundation of modern Catholic Social Teaching; he founded the modern Vatican Observatory and heavily promoted the Rosary.