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Pope Leo XIV Issues First Major Teaching, Elevates Care for Poor and Migrants

The exhortation caps a week of private appeals to U.S. Catholic leaders to confront stepped-up deportations.

Pope Leo XIV arrives in St. Peter's Square for his weekly general audience, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
FILE - Pope Leo XIV blesses a child at the end of a Mass for the Jubilee of Migrants and Missionaries in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
A group of children of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy of Chicago pose after attending the Pope Leo XIV weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Bishop of El Paso Mark Joseph Seitz talks with the Associated Press about the situation at the US border with Mexico during an interview at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Silvia Stellacci)

Overview

  • Pope Leo XIV released Dilexi te on Oct. 9, a papal exhortation that places the poor at the center of church life and urges welcome for migrants, declaring that where walls are built the church builds bridges.
  • Cardinal Michael Czerny said the text was begun under Pope Francis but is now Leo’s own teaching, with the new pope explicitly making the document his own and expanding its focus on structural inequality.
  • In back-to-back Vatican meetings this week, Leo received U.S. Latino ministers and then El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz with Hope Border Institute, who delivered letters and a video from fearful families as attendees reported the pope vowed to stand with them.
  • Attendees said Leo urged the U.S. bishops to speak strongly and with one voice on immigration, a message echoed as he met Chicago labor leaders on Thursday and encouraged advocacy that respects human dignity.
  • The White House defended President Trump’s enforcement agenda in response to questions about the pope’s outreach, as conservative Catholics criticized Leo following his recent query about whether harsh policies align with pro‑life principles.