´óÏó´«Ã½

We take it for granted these days that the Pope is a media figure. Some popes, like John Paul II, seemed to understand, effortlessly, the place and the power of television and their media profile. Others - perhaps we would include Benedict here - have struggled to relate to the media. This film shows the first pope to come face to face with the new medium of moving pictures. , filmed here in 1896, was born in 1810 and elected pope in 1878. He reigned until the age of 93. He's the pope who gave the church the encyclical , which set out Catholic social teaching on defeating poverty and challenged the exploitation of the poor. (Read it .) He also wrote a controverisal encyclical dealing with the moral issue of "" in Ireland. In all, during his reign, which I suspect is a record (though Leo's encyclicals were sometimes as short as a modern e-mail, in contrast with today''s set-piece papal productions). , you'll also find impressive assaults on the institutions of slavery (both in "civil" society and within the church's missions), and - less well-received in England - an attack on the validity of Anglican orders.