Pope Leo XIV gave the first insight to what direction his papacy would take early last month when he published his first official teaching – Dilexi Te – (“I have loved you”). This document had been begun by his predecessor, Francis, and he gladly took it up, made it own, and has issued it as a reminder to the world that Christians should be known as people who identify with and stand in solidarity with those who are poor.
A Sequel with a Difference
Leo’s Dilexi Te is best read as the second part of a story begun last year by Pope Francis in Dilexit Nos, his exhortation on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. So this new document represents a sort of theological sequel, if you like. Think The Godfather Part II, but with more footnotes and no space for Marlon Brando.
At its core is a startlingly simple claim: the spiritual life and the struggle for justice are not two parallel tracks. They are one and the same road. Every movement to make God’s love visible among the poor depends on the daily spiritual practices that immerse us in the truth that Christ has already loved us first.
How the Document Unfolds
Leo’s exhortation is strikingly concise, tracing two thousand years of Christian engagement with poverty.
- Chapter 1 clears the ground, setting out what the Church means when it speaks of poverty.
- Chapter 2 explores the biblical preoccupation with the poor.
- Chapter 3 follows the early Church’s dedication to solidarity with those on the margins.
- Chapter 4 maps the growth of Catholic Social Teaching and the on-going influence of liberation theology.
- And the final chapter shifts tone entirely. It is the document’s “now it’s your turn” moment, where the Pope stops explaining and hands us the ball.
What Leo XIV Wants Us to Hear
1. The preferential option is not optional.
In Jesus was born in a manger and crucified outside the city. His life is marked by poverty from beginning to end. God’s choice for the poor is revealed as the very pattern of salvation. His poverty exposes the world’s false wealth. Leo retells the famous story of Lawrence, the Treasurer of the Church in Rome, who ended up getting in serious trouble by insisting to the Emperor that “The poor are the treasures of the Church.”
2. Justice and spirituality belong together.
To read Dilexi Te without Dilexit Nos is like skipping The Fellowship of the Ring and jumping straight into The Two Towers: you’ll get the action but miss the story. Leo undermines both the so-called “right wing” of the Church that treats justice as optional and the “progressive wing” that fights for the Kingdom without praying to the King. The Christian faith can’t be held captive by the ideological positions presented to us in our wider cultures.
3. There is continuity in our witness.
Leo clearly stands with Francis. This is not a new direction but a deepening one. The document spans Scripture, the Fathers and Mothers of the Church, and countless movements through history, to demonstrate how the same truth shines through: the Church must be with the poor, because Christ is.
Why It Matters
Dilexi Te isn’t a policy document (you need to come to the JCFJ, not the Pope, for that). It’s a call to conversion. It reminds us that the credibility of the Christian faith depends on whether we truly love the poor.
In a world marked by inequality, ecological crisis, and spiritual exhaustion, Leo XIV’s words strike home: to ignore the poor is to misunderstand Christ; to stand with them is to stand where he stands.
Ultimately, Dilexi Te reframes love for the poor as the place where theology becomes flesh, where our contemplation turns to justice, and where worship becomes mercy.
