Pope Leo XIV speaks on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican May 8, 2025, following his election during the conclave. (OSV News photo/Yara Nardi, Reuters)

Pope Leo blasts elitism, indifference toward poor in first major document

Vatican

"I am convinced that the preferential choice for the poor is a source of extraordinary renewal both for the church and for society," the pope wrote in Dilexi Te.

The Latest

Faith communities have a critical role in defending our nation's libraries

Paul Brandeis Raushenbush and Sam Helmick, Religion News Service

Uncertainty grows for food assistance programs amid government shutdown

Kate Scanlon, OSV News

9 things to know about 'Dilexi Te,' Pope Leo's first apostolic exhortation

OSV News

Editors' Choice

Pope Leo XIV gives his blessing at the conclusion of Mass for the Jubilee of Migrants and the Jubilee of the Missions in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 5, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

In Focus

Migrants and advocates increasingly find champion in Pope Leo amid polarization

In audiences and off-the-cuff comments, Pope Leo has offered migrants and their advocates reason to rally around him as a defender of human dignity.

Support journalism that matters. 

Your donation to NCR keeps independent Vatican news accessible to all. 

Donate Now

Most Read Stories

Vatican News

#1
One can't serve God and money, pope says on day he signs text on poverty

Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 4 signed his first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te ("I Have Loved You"), which will be released Oct. 9.

ByCarol Glatz, Catholic News Service
Pope Leo XIV greets visitors and pilgrims from the popemobile before his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 1, 2025. (CNS/Pablo Esparza)

#2
Pope Leo's Francis-aligned take on Durbin controversy backfires on conservatives

Conservative Catholics had hoped that Pope Francis' reforms would follow him into the tomb, but they must reckon with the fact that it is they, not Pope Leo or Cardinal Cupich, who need a course correction.

ByMichael Sean Winters
Pope Leo XIV greets visitors and pilgrims from the popemobile before his weekly general audience, with people waving US flags,in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 1. (CNS/Pablo Esparza)

#3
Wading into Durbin controversy, Pope Leo shows himself attuned to US debates

"Someone who says, 'I'm against abortion, but I'm in favor of the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States,' I don't know if that's pro-life." the pontiff said. 

ByJustin McLellan

#4
When Trump spoke to the generals, their silence spoke volumes

#5
Can doctrine be changed? Another look at Pope Leo's comment on LGBTQ+ Catholics

#6
US bishops' president begs Americans to see Christ 'in every person,' reject political violence

Opinion

Leo's exhortation enlists the old, and the new, in service to the poor

Faith communities have a critical role in defending our nation's libraries

Mosaic of the prophet Amos in the Florence Baptistery (Wikimedia Commons/CC attribution 4.0 international/SuzzaneMcg)

Amos, a prophet for social justice, is a prophet for today

Guest Voices

"His strongest condemnations were against rulers who officiated at the gates of the city and meted out injustice," writes Fr. Thomas Reese.

Nation's reliance on undocumented workers demonstrates folly of mass deportation

Pope Leo embraces Francis' concerns on global warming and the environment

Newly appointed French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, right, shakes hands with outgoing Prime Minister Francois Bayrou at the end of the handover ceremony at Hotel Matignon in Paris Sept. 10. Lecornu resigned Oct. 6. (OSV News/Ludovic Marin, pool via Reuters)

The crisis in French politics bodes ill for the entire West

 If President Emmanuel Macron calls snap elections, NCR's Michael Sean Winters writes, voters could turn to the extreme right-wing National Rally party.

Vatican

9 things to know about 'Dilexi Te,' Pope Leo's first apostolic exhortation

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. Here are nine things to know about the document.

Pope Leo XIV speaks on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican May 8, 2025, following his election during the conclave. (OSV News photo/Yara Nardi, Reuters)

Pope Leo blasts elitism, indifference toward poor in first major document

"I am convinced that the preferential choice for the poor is a source of extraordinary renewal both for the church and for society," the pope wrote in Dilexi Te.

ByJustin McLellan

El Paso bishop brings Pope Leo XIV desperate letters from migrants in crosshairs of US crackdown

The Texas bishop on the front lines of the U.S. immigration crackdown met Wednesday with Pope Leo XIV and brought him a packet of letters from immigrant families "terrorized" by fear that they and their loved ones will be rounded up and deported as the Trump administration's tactics grow increasingly combative.

ByNicole Winfield, Associated Press

President Maduro asks Pope Leo XIV to help maintain peace in Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Monday said he has asked Pope Leo XIV to help maintain peace in the South American country. Maduro's comments come as the United States military continues to strike alleged drug-carrying boats in the waters off Venezuela in what President Donald Trump has declared an " armed conflict " with cartels. 

ByAssociated Press

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors will focus its new report on reparations

Pope Leo XIV starts to correct some of Francis' more problematic financial decisions

Pope Leo's first international trip officially set for Turkey, Lebanon

EarthBeat

Sr. Flora Nyawira trains a group on leek onion farming. The Sisters of Our Lady of the Good Shepherd run Shalom Farm in Kitale, Kenya. (Mourine Achieng)

Sisters turning 25 acres in Kenya into a model for mixed farming

"We want to inspire small-scale farmers to maximize their farms' potential," Sr. Flora Nyawira of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Good Shepherd said. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor and former California governor, gestures during a Vatican news conference on “Raising Hope for Climate Justice” Sept. 30, 2025. He is joined on the panel by Brazilian Cardinal Jaime Spengler of Porto Alegre, Salesian Sister Alessandra Smerilli, secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and others. (CNS/Lola Gomez)
Vatican News

Church, government leaders set sights on COP30 at Vatican climate meeting

The Belém, Brazil summit, scheduled for November, is expected to be one of the most consequential climate gatherings since COP21, which culminated in the 2015 Paris Agreement. 

ByJustin McLellan
Pope Leo XIV blesses a chunk of ice from a glacier in Greenland during the opening session of an international conference celebrating the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home," at the Mariapolis Center in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Oct. 1. The ice block was fished out of the Nuup Kangerlua fjord in Greenland after becoming detached from the ice sheet. (CNS/Vatican Media)

At Laudato Si' conference, Catholics stress hope, heart to animate church on climate

"In the face of this deepening crisis, how do we dare raise hope? Our answer is this: We do it together," said Yeb Sano, board director for the Laudato Si' Movement.

ByBrian Roewe
Bare hands planting sprouted plants in a raised garden bed full of soil.

Laudato Si' continues to inspire Bangladesh communities to protect the Earth

The Catholic Church in Bangladesh is working actively in the environmental sector and spreading the message of Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si' to protect the environment — even among non-Catholics. 

ByStephan Uttom Rozario

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

NY grant helps Catholic sisters save the bees

Columns

'We have to do something!': Our faith calls us protect creation

Pope Leo calls for 'true ecological conversion' from words to action on environment

Culture

In 'The Promised Land,' Moses’ desert trek is reimagined as a workplace comedy

Envisioned as a "mockumentary" series shot in the style of "The Office" and "Abbott Elementary," the show's pilot was released last year. Its first season debuted Oct. 1, tackling the often tragic narrative of Moses and the Israelites with a wink and a nod.

Drawing of "The Sermon on the Mount" (1635) by Jacques Callot (Artvee)

New book calls for a politics that mirrors Jesus' Beatitudes

In Why Christians Should Be Leftists, Phil Christman argues that Jesus' teachings "[lay] out an ethic that would make it next to impossible for any human being to successfully hang onto power forever."

ByKaya Oakes
Kendrick Lamar performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 59

Kendrick Lamar and Thea Bowman: Mystics of resistance

Using the medium of rap and the medium of theology, respectively, Kendrick Lamar and Sr. Thea Bowman have each ushered something new into the world: a piece of God incarnated in their own unique way. 

ByMaxwell Kuzma

Nonreligious Americans might not be as spiritual as we thought

Our research shows that nonreligious Americans report being significantly less spiritual than people who identify with established traditions such as Christianity, Judaism or Islam.
 
ByRyan Burge, Tony Jones, Religion News Service

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Book Reviews

A graphic novel on hell tackles scrupulosity for Gen Z

Former Opus Dei numerary's memoir claims abuse, trafficking

Robert Redford's faith legacy in film

Sr. Jannette Pruitt and Archbishop Shelton Fabre of Louisville, Kentucky. Pruitt designed and created her dress, as well as Fabre's vestments. (Courtesy of Jannette Pruitt)

Q&A with Sr. Jannette Pruitt, sewing custom vestments that celebrate Afro heritage

A retired pastoral associate and master catechist, Pruitt honors her ancestors by using her sewing and design skills to craft custom Afrocentric vestments for priests, deacons and even one lucky bishop.

Varalakshmi, a resident of Sumanahalli celebrates her birthday with her husband (left) and daughter. Claretian Fr. George Kannanthanam (right) is also present. (Thomas Scaria)

Sister-led church-state collaboration brings leprosy-cured Indians dignity, support

Among India's 28 states, only Karnataka employs cured leprosy patients. Congregations have been working with the state government to treat, rehabilitate, educate and ensure jobs for them, giving them dignified lives.

ByThomas Scaria

Q&A with Sr. Rosily Kolencherry, supporting tribal families in eastern India

Holy Cross Sister finds spiritual growth in ministry working for social and economically disadvantaged families for 33 years.

By
The Peace Monument, named Grief and History, is pictured at the U.S. Capitol in the hours before a partial government shutdown in Washington, Sept. 30. (OSV News/Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

Monday Starter: Sisters, advocacy groups fear impact of US government shutdown

Plus, the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux begin US tour at a Detroit parish.

ByDan Stockman, Associated Press

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The promise of life begins with clean birth kits

Reporter's Notebook: Recognizing sisters' historic work with migrants

How synodality strengthened my nursing ethics