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The social encyclical Rerum Novarum closely links the question of poverty with that of property, and invokes Thomas Aquinas. But on closer examination, the reasoning developed in favor of property departs from the scholastic thinker and maintains more affinity with the liberal tradition represented by John Locke. While Aquinas links property to the common good, for Locke property is based on the rights of the individual. A rereading of the encyclical, in light of its sources, permits greater precision of the nature of this issue, while enriching the current debate over private and social property.