Vatican City – On Saturday, October 4, 2025, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, the first apostolic exhortation of Leo XIV will be published. The Pope, building on a project already initiated for his predecessor, will offer a reflection on the theme of the care of the poor.
What is an Apostolic Exhortation?
An apostolic exhortation is a document through which the Pope, without introducing new laws or dogmatic definitions, guides and encourages Christian life. It has a predominantly pastoral and exhortative character: it does not carry the solemnity of an encyclical, but it seeks to provide concrete impulses to the People of God. Sometimes it follows a Synod of Bishops, gathering its fruits and relaunching them; at other times it originates directly from the Pope’s initiative, to indicate spiritual and pastoral paths of particular urgency for the Church.
The Text of the Exhortation
Work on this text had already begun during the pontificate of Francis, when Msgr. Vincenzo Paglia inserted long excerpts from one of his books, with almost no mediation. After the death of his predecessor, Leo XIV nonetheless decided to carry the publication forward, considering the subject to be of pressing relevance, but he asked the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Secretariat of State to undertake a thorough revision of the text.
P.A.
Silere non possum