Pope Leo XIII was born March 2, 1810. He reigned in 1878-1903, the third longest pontificate after Pius IX and John Paul II. He is remembered as a pope concerned for social justice. In his 1891 encyclical "Rerum novarum," he argued for the rights of workers to a fair wage, to trade unions, and safe work places. His upholding of free enterprise and property rights steered a course between laissez-faire capitalism and socialism. He also promoted the use of the rosary and the revival of Thomism. When our current pope took the name Leo, he made an explicit connection to the teachings and example of his predecessor.
Born March 2, 1876 as Eugenio Pacelli, Pope Pius XII reigned in 1939-1958. He oversaw canon law reform and liturgy reform. He clarified the nature of the church's teaching office, and also encouraged biblical scholarship. He defined ex cathedra the dogma of the Assumption of Mary. Pius remains controversial because he did not condemn Nazi atrocities contrasted to his opposition to Soviet Communism. This article from the Holocaust center Yad Vashem discusses the issues: https://www.yadvashem.org/articles/academic/pius-and-the-holocaust.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawQSglNleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFwa2UyQnoyYnBKZURCdmlUc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHl0Tj2Si5zhTQUdpKpMHqeEPfsNDQRHLuSoJ1byMii6bQvkeF-Wq8TLDPBn2_aem_a9F1Be-ansprsKFL7SlClw
Pope Adrian VI, born in Utrecht as Adriaan Florensz Boeyens on March 2, 1459. He ascended to the papacy in January 1522. He inherited dire challenges: the difficult situation of the papal finances; the early years of the Protestant Reformation; and the challenge of the Turks under Suleiman the Magnificent in the east. Adrian had only twenty months as pope before he died; poison was suspected but more likely he succumbed to stress-related illness. He was the only Dutch pope. He was the last non-Italian pope until the Polish archbishop Karol Wojtyła was elected as John Paul II in 1978.
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