Consecrated men and women can wake up the world, being small beacons of light pointing the way to God’s plan of peace and salvation for humanity, Pope Leo XIV said.

Pope Leo XIV sent a letter commending the work of Catholic Charities USA, the domestic charitable arm of the Catholic Church in the U.S., to mark its 115th annual gathering Oct. 6-9 in San Juan.

A dialogue at Georgetown University drew attention to the crucial role of community organizing in the Latino community and how it can serve to reinvigorate the voice of people in politics, both in local-level issues and broader political movements.

Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation “Dilexi Te” (“I have loved you”), promulgated Oct. 9, 2025 — the feast day of St. John Henry Newman — explores love and charity for the poor.

Greeting a pilgrimage of labor union leaders from Chicago, Pope Leo XIV thanked them for helping “to create a society where all can flourish.”

Consecrated men and women, who abandon themselves “like children into the arms of the Father,” spread “the ‘fresh air’ of authentic love throughout the world,” he said in his homily during Mass in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 9, marking the Jubilee of Consecrated Life.

The apostolic exhortation “Dilexi Te” (“I Have Loved You”) on the church’s love for the poor, “is Pope Leo’s document. It is the magisterium of the church,” although Pope Leo himself wrote that it was begun by Pope Francis, said Cardinal Michael Czerny.

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.