Paus Leo XIII (Carpineto Romano, 2 March 1810 – Rome, 20 July 1903), born as Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci in an Italian Grafel family, was the 256th Pope from the Roman Catholic Church. His pontificate lasted from 1878 to 1903. He led the church until he was 93 and is thus to this day the pope who, during his tenure, attained the highest age, and had the third longest pontificate, after his immediate predecessor Pius IX and John Paul II.