section_path: Papacy (1878–1903)/Foreign relations/Philippines
section_name: Philippines
paragraph_text: Philippines
  
  Leo XIII was pope during the Spanish–American War in 1898, in which the United States, a then largely Protestant nation, took control of the Philippines from Spain. In a 1902 meeting with the American Governor-General William Howard Taft, Leo XIII refused to allow the United States government to buy land from Catholic friars in the Philippines.
  
  Leo XIII was pope during the Spanish–American War in 1898, in which the United States, a then largely Protestant nation, took control of the Philippines from Spain. In a 1902 meeting with the American Governor-General William Howard Taft, Leo XIII refused to allow the United States government to buy land from Catholic friars in the Philippines.