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

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.

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.