Federal food assistance programs used by millions could be at risk as the federal government shutdown continues, proponents of those programs said.

In his first apostolic exhortation, Pope Leo XIV has taken up the call of Pope Francis for Christians to see in the poor the very face of Christ — and to be a church that “walks poor with the poor” in order to authentically live out the Gospel.

Many Christians “need to go back and re-read the Gospel” because they have forgotten that faith and love for the poor go hand in hand, Pope Leo XIV said in his first major papal document.

Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation “Dilexi Te” (“I have loved you”), was promulgated Oct. 9, the feast day of St. John Henry Newman.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem welcomed “with joy” the announcement of an initial agreement between Hamas and Israel in an Oct. 9 statement, but also stressed the “absolute urgency” for the “immediate” and “unconditional” entry of humanitarian relief and sufficient aid into Gaza.

Israel and Hamas “have both signed off” on the first phase of a White House peace proposal for Gaza, President Donald Trump said late Oct. 8 in a social media post.

Pope Leo XIV expressed solidarity with the immigrant community in the U.S. and urged the church to be a united voice on their behalf in an Oct. 8 private audience with immigration advocates.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has chosen two Catholic publishers, both known for their print and digital offerings, to print the second edition of the Liturgy of the Hours that is celebrated within the Latin Church.

Another priest has been found murdered in a violent southern Mexican state, where Catholic bishops’ have brokered truces between warring drug cartels and clergy have been killed with impunity.

Many immigrants in the United States are living with the same fear people experienced under the “tyrannical” communist governments of the past, said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas.