On Oct. 4, Pope Leo XIV issued an apostolic exhortation titled, “I Have Loved You,” described as a letter “to all Christians on love for the poor.” Pope Leo, emphasizing the recent sharp rise in inequality, wrote that church teachings have put care for the poor at their core. He called for dismantling structural injustice and using technology to develop effective policies for change.  Pope Leo also championed charity and almsgiving stating, “Charity is not optional but a requirement of true worship.” There are references to Pope St. John XXIII’s appeal to “wealthier countries not to remain indifferent to nations oppressed by hunger and extreme poverty,” to Pope St. John Paul II’s citing the church’s “preferential option for the poor,” and to Pope Francis who “made care for the poor and solidarity with the poor one of the key themes of his pontificate.” Pope Leo also referred to Leo XIII’s encyclical defending the rights of working people to a living wage which set the tone for the church’s modern social doctrine.  He reiterated that the church should welcome migrants by building bridges, not walls.  Cardinal Michael Czerny, a close advisor to Pope Francis, clarified that Pope Leo’s exhortation did not seek to single out the U.S., but that these teachings are valid in all countries, “like the Gospel.”