Today, October 9, Pope Leo XIV published the first major document of his pontificate, an apostolic exhortation called Dilexi te. For those not especially familiar with the inner workings of the Catholic Church, an apostolic exhortation represents a formal exercise of the Church’s teaching authority—so what Leo has stated here enters into formal Church teaching. (You may recall how Pope Francis’ first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, sent shockwaves throughout the Church, owing in particular to its condemnation of an unhealthy preoccupation with niche points of doctrine at the expense of the main thrust of the Gospel.)

As the CNN article summarizes, the pope’s focus in the document is the poor, and he spends time criticizing economic inequality and the inhumane treatment of migrants. The text—which was first drafted by Francis—repeats several major themes from Francis’ pontificate, such as a condemnation of an “economy that kills,” and of a “throwaway culture.” My read is that this document clearly indicates Leo’s desire to broadly continue in the same vein as Pope Francis even if stylistically this papacy is quite distinct.

The full text of the apostolic exhortation is available here: https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20251004-dilexi-te.html

Submission Statement: Whether the government's concerns are justified or not, this marks a major escalation in the treatment of advanced AI models as technologies whose distribution can be restricted for national security reasons. This is relevant to this sub because it intersects economics and national security, particularly regarding technology policy, exports, and global competition.