On October 9, 2025, Pope Leo XIV promulgated his first Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi te (“I Have Loved You”), a work begun by Pope Francis and now completed under Leo’s own hand. The document is a powerful meditation on the love of Christ for the poor and on the Church’s calling to stand in solidarity with the weakest. In it, the Holy Father invites all believers to see in the face of the poor the face of Christ, and to respond with compassion, justice, and mercy.
Pope Leo underscores that God’s love is not abstract, but is revealed in caring for those who suffer: materially, socially, spiritually. He reminds us that poverty has many dimensions—lack of resources, exclusion, loss of dignity—and challenges us not to ignore these realities. The Church is called to be not just for the poor, but with them, walking alongside them, uplifting them, listening to them, and learning from them.
In the Exhortation, we also find reflections on education, migration, structural injustice, and the need for concrete action. The poor are not merely recipients of charity; as Pope Leo says, they are “teachers of the Gospel.” To serve the poor is to encounter Christ Himself.
I encourage you wholeheartedly to read and reflect on Dilexi te. Let its message awaken in each of us a renewed commitment to love in action—through small daily gestures, advocacy, prayer, and generosity. May it deepen your compassion and inspire you to stand more courageously beside those in need.
You can access the full text here:
- English version: Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te (English) — via the Vatican website (Vatican)
- French version: Exhortation apostolique Dilexi te (Français) — via the Vatican website (Vatican)
Let us pray that our community may become ever more faithful to the call of Christ to love the poor, and that we may become living witnesses of his merciful heart.
Fr. Marius
