“This is the first time I have had the joy of meeting you, continuing the path traced by Pope Francis who, in recent years, has often been in dialogue with your realities, emphasizing his prophetic importance in a world marked by problems of all kinds,” Pope Leo told participants at the World Meeting of Popular Movements in Rome on 24 October 2025.
He continued:
One of the reasons I chose the name “Leo XIV” is the Encyclical Rerum Novarum , written by Leo XIII during the Industrial Revolution. Its title, Rerum Novarum , means “new things.” Certainly, there are “new things” in our world; however, when we talk about them, we usually adopt a “perspective that comes from the center” and refer to things such as artificial intelligence or robotics. Yet, today I would like to look at “new things” with you, starting from the periphery.
Seeing “new things” from the periphery
More than ten years ago, here in the Vatican, Pope Francis told you that you had come to plant a flag. What was written on it? “Land, housing, work.” [1] “ Tierra, techo, trabajo ,” as Guadalupe told us earlier. It was a “new thing” for the Church, and it was a good thing! Echoing Francis’s demands, I say today: land, housing, and work are sacred rights, they are worth defending, and I want you to hear me say, “I am here!” “I am with you!”
Is demanding land, housing, and jobs for the excluded a “new thing”? From the perspective of global power centers, certainly not; those with financial security and comfortable housing may consider such demands somewhat outdated. The truly “new” things seem to be autonomous vehicles, fashionable objects or clothing, high-end mobile phones, cryptocurrencies, and the like.
But from the peripheries, things look different; the banner you are waving is so topical that it deserves an entire chapter in Christian social thought on the excluded in today’s world.
This is the perspective I would like to convey: new things seen from the periphery and your commitment that is not limited to protest, but also seeks solutions. Often, the peripheries cry out for justice; you do not cry out “out of despair” but “out of ideals”: your cry seeks solutions in a society governed by unjust systems. And you do not do it with microprocessors or biotechnologies, but from the bottom up, from the field, with the beauty of craftsmanship. This is poetry: you are “social poets” [2] .
Today, once again, you carry the banner of land, housing, and work, marching together from a social center— Spin Time —to the Vatican. This march together testifies to the vitality of popular movements, as builders of solidarity in diversity. The Church must be with you: a poor Church for the poor, a Church that expands, a Church that takes risks, a courageous, prophetic, and joyful Church!
What particularly strikes me is that your service is rooted in love. I know similar realities and experiences from other countries, real community spaces overflowing with faith, hope, and above all love, which remains the most important virtue of all (cf. 1 Cor 13:13). Indeed, when cooperatives and work groups are founded to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, rescue the shipwrecked, care for children, create jobs, access land, and build homes, we must remember that we are not in an ideology, but we are truly living the Gospel.
In fact, the commandment to love one another is at the center of the Gospel: Jesus told us that his face is hidden in the faces and wounds of the poorest (cf. Mt 25:34-40). How beautiful it is to see that popular movements, even before the demand for justice, are driven by love, against all individualism or prejudice.
As Bishop of Peru, I am happy to have experienced a Church that accompanies people in their suffering, their joys, their struggles and their hopes. It is an antidote to a structural indifference that is spreading and that does not take into consideration the drama of peoples who are dispossessed, robbed, plundered and forced into poverty. We often feel powerless in the face of all this, yet we must counter what I have called a “globalisation of powerlessness” with a “culture of reconciliation and commitment” [3] . Popular movements fill this void generated by the lack of love with the great miracle of solidarity, based on care for one’s neighbor and reconciliation.
As I was saying, the standardised discourse on “new things” – with their potential and their dangers – omits what is happening in the peripheries. People at the center are little aware of the problems that concern the excluded, and when they are mentioned in political and economic discussions, it seems to be discussed as “an issue that is added almost by obligation or in a marginal way, when they are not considered mere collateral damage. In fact, when it comes to concrete action, they are frequently relegated to last place.” [4] On the contrary, the poor are at the center of the Gospel. Thus, marginalised communities should be included in a collective and supportive commitment that seeks to reverse the dehumanizing trend of social injustices and promote integral human development.
Indeed, “until the problems of the poor are radically resolved, by renouncing the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation, and by attacking the structural causes of social disparity, the world’s problems will not be resolved, nor ultimately any problem. Social disparity is the root of society’s ills” [5]
Old injustices in a new world
Your commitment is all the more necessary in a world which, as we know, is increasingly globalised; as Benedict XVI stated , “the processes of globalization, properly conceived and managed, offer the possibility of a great redistribution of wealth at the planetary level such as has never before occurred; if they are badly managed, on the contrary, they can increase poverty and inequality, and infect the whole world with a crisis” [6]
This means that the dynamics of progress must always be managed according to an ethic of responsibility, overcoming the risk of idolizing profit and always placing man and his integral development at the center. According to Augustine, the “human” is at the heart of Saint Augustine’s vision of an ethic of responsibility. He teaches us that responsibility, especially towards the poor and those in material need, arises from being human with one’s fellow human beings and, consequently, from the recognition of our “common humanity.” [7]
Since we all share the same humanity, we must ensure that “new things” are managed appropriately. The issue should not remain in the hands of political, scientific, or academic elites; rather, it should concern us all. The creativity with which God endowed human beings, which has enabled great progress in many areas, has not yet succeeded in optimally addressing the challenges of poverty and, thus, has not succeeded in reversing the trend toward the dramatic exclusion of millions of people who remain in the peripheries. This is a central point in the debate on “new things.”
When my predecessor Leo XIII wrote Rerum Novarum at the end of the 19th century , he did not focus on industrial technology or new energy sources, but rather on the situations of workers. Therein lies the evangelical force of his message: the focus was primarily on the situations of the poor and oppressed of that time. And, for the first time and with absolute clarity, a Pope declared that the daily struggles for survival and social justice were of paramount importance to the Church. Leo XIII denounced the submission of the majority to the power “of a minority, so that a small number of very rich men have been able to impose on the masses of poor workers a yoke little better than slavery itself.” [8] Such was the great inequality of the age.
In Leo XIII ‘s Encyclical we do not find the words “unemployment” or “exclusion,” because at the time the problems concerned rather the improvement of workers’ conditions, exploitation, the urgency of a new social harmony and a new political balance, objectives that are gradually being achieved thanks to numerous labor laws and social security institutions. Today, however, exclusion is the new face of social injustice. The gap between a “small minority”—1% of the population—and the vast majority has widened considerably.
This exclusion is a “novelty” that Pope Francis has denounced as a “throwaway culture,” vehemently stating: “The excluded are not ‘exploited,’ but waste, ‘leftovers.’” [9]
When we talk about exclusion, we also face a paradox. The lack of land, food, housing, and decent work coexists with access to new technologies that are spreading everywhere thanks to globalised markets. Mobile phones, social networks, and even artificial intelligence are within the reach of millions of people, including the poorest. However, while more and more people have access to the internet, basic needs remain unmet. Let us ensure that, when more sophisticated needs are met, basic needs are not neglected.
This systemic arbitrariness leaves people deprived of what is necessary and overwhelmed by what is secondary. In short, mismanagement breeds and increases inequality under the guise of progress. And by not having human dignity at its center, the system also fails to deliver justice.
The impact of “new things” on the excluded
I will not describe today in an exhaustive manner the “novelties” produced in particular by the centers of technological development, but we know that they have an impact on all the main areas of social life: health, education, work, transport, urbanization, communication, security, defense, etc. Many of these impacts are ambivalent: they are positive for some countries and social sectors, but others suffer “collateral damage.” Once again, this is the result of “mismanagement” of technological progress.
The climate crisis is perhaps the most glaring example. We see it with every extreme weather event, whether floods, droughts, tsunamis, or earthquakes: who suffers the most? It is always the poorest. They lose what little they have when the water washes away their homes and are often forced to abandon them without having an adequate alternative to resume their lives. The same happens when, for example, peasants, farmers, and indigenous peoples lose their land, their cultural identity, and their sustainable local production due to the desertification of their territories.
Another aspect of “new things” that particularly affects marginalised people concerns the anxieties and hopes of the poorest in the face of the lifestyles that are constantly promoted today. For example: how can a poor young person live with hope and without anxiety when social media constantly exalts unbridled consumption and completely unattainable economic success?
And yet another significant problem is the spread of online gambling addiction. The platforms are designed to create compulsive addiction and generate habits that create addiction.
I would not like to overlook the “novelty” of the pharmaceutical industry, which certainly represents great progress in some respects, but which is not without ambiguity. In today’s culture, with the help of certain advertising campaigns, a sort of cult of physical well-being is propagated, almost an idolatry of the body, and in this vision, the mystery of pain is interpreted in a reductive way. This can also lead to an addiction to painkillers, the sale of which obviously increases the manufacturers’ profits. This has also led to opiate addiction, which is ravaging the United States in particular; think, for example, of fentanyl, the drug of death, the second leading cause of death among the poor in this country. The proliferation of new, increasingly lethal synthetic drugs is not only a crime committed by drug traffickers, but a reality linked to the production of medicines and their profits, devoid of any comprehensive ethics.
I would also like to point out that the development of new information and telecommunications technologies depends on minerals that are often found underground in poor countries. Without coltan from the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, many of the technological devices we use today would not exist. However, its extraction depends on paramilitary violence, child labor, and population displacement. Lithium is another example: competition between major powers and large corporations for its extraction represents a serious threat to the sovereignty and stability of poor states, so much so that some entrepreneurs and politicians boast of promoting coups d’état and other forms of political destabilization, precisely to get their hands on the “white gold” that is lithium.
Finally, I would like to address the issue of security. States have the right and duty to protect their borders, but this must be balanced by the moral obligation to provide refuge. With the abuse of vulnerable migrants, we are not witnessing the legitimate exercise of national sovereignty, but rather serious crimes committed or tolerated by the state. Increasingly inhumane—even politically celebrated—measures are being taken to treat these “undesirables” as if they were trash, not human beings. Christianity, on the other hand, refers to the God of love, who makes us all brothers and sisters and asks us to live as such.
At the same time, I find it encouraging to see how popular movements, civil society organizations, and the Church are confronting these new forms of dehumanization, constantly bearing witness that those in need are our neighbors, our brothers and sisters. This makes you champions of humanity, witnesses of justice, poets of solidarity.
The just struggle of popular movements
In Rerum Novarum , Leo XIII observed that “the last century has destroyed, without replacing them with anything, the ancient corporations.” [10] The poor have become more vulnerable and less protected. Today, a similar situation is occurring, as the typical 20th-century trade unions now represent an ever-smaller percentage of workers, and social security systems are in crisis in many countries; consequently, neither trade unions, nor employers’ associations, nor states, nor international organizations seem able to address these problems. But “a state without justice is not a state,” Saint Augustine reminds us. [11] Justice requires that the institutions of every state serve all social classes and all residents, harmonizing different needs and interests.
Once again, we are faced with an ethical vacuum into which evil easily insinuates itself. This reminds me of a parable, the parable of the unclean spirit who, cast out, returns to find his former home clean and in order, and then mounts an even more violent struggle (cf. Mt 12:43-45). In this orderly vacuum, the evil spirit is free to act. The social institutions of the past were not perfect, but by sweeping away most of them and embellishing what remains with ineffective laws and unenforced treaties, the system makes human beings more vulnerable than before.
This is why popular movements, as well as people of good will, Christians, believers and governments, are urgently called to fill this void, establishing processes of justice and solidarity that spread throughout society, because, as I have already said, “illusions distract us, preparations orient us. Illusions seek a result, preparations make an encounter possible.” [12]
In the Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te, I wanted to recall that “there have been, and still are, varied popular movements, made up of lay people and led by popular leaders , often suspected and even persecuted.” [13] Yet your struggles, carried by the banner of land, housing and work for a better world, deserve to be encouraged. And just as the Church accompanied the formation of trade unions in the past, today we must accompany popular movements. This means accompanying humanity, walking together in shared respect for human dignity and in the common desire for justice, love and peace.
The Church supports your just struggles for land, housing, and work. Like my predecessor Francis, I believe that the right paths begin at the local level and from the periphery to the center. Your many creative initiatives can be transformed into new public policies and social rights. Your quest is legitimate and necessary. Who knows if the seeds of love you sow, as small as mustard seeds (cf. Mt 13:31-32; Mk 4:30-32; Lk 13:18-19), will be able to grow into a more humane world for all and help us better manage the “new things.”
The Church and I wish to be at your side on this journey. Let us continue to raise our prayers to Almighty God. With you, in prayer, let us implore the Father of all mercy to protect you and fill you with his inexhaustible love. May he grant you, in his infinite goodness, the courage of evangelical prophecy, perseverance in the struggle, hope in the heart, and poetic creativity. I entrust you to the maternal protection of Mary Most Holy. And from the bottom of my heart, I bless you.
Thank you, thank you all! And continue on your journey, with joy and hope! Thank you. Let us pray together as Jesus taught us [in Spanish].
[Recitation of the Our Father in Spanish. Blessing]
[1] “ Tierra, techo, trabajo ”, the three “T”s in Spanish.
[2] Francis, Video Message , October 16, 2021.
[3] Video message on the occasion of the presentation of the candidacy of the project “Gestures of Hospitality” to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage , September 12, 2025.
[4] Francis, Laudato si’ , 49.
[5] Id., Evangelii gaudium , 202.
[6] Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate , 42.
[7] Cf. Augustine, Discourse 259, 3.
[8] Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum , 3.
[9] Francis, Evangelii gaudium , 53.
[10] Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum , 3.
[11] Augustine, De civitate Dei , XIX, 21.1.
[12] Leo XIV, General Audience , August 6, 2025.
[13] Id., Dilexi te , 80.
SOURCE
Discurso del Papa León XIV a los participantes en el Encuentro Mundial de Movimientos Populares (Vatican)