Pope Leo XIV Links Faith with Love for the Poor in "Dilexi te"

Vatican City, 9 October, 2025 – Pope Leo XIV’s first Apostolic Exhortation, "Dilexi te," signed on 4 October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, urges Christians to unite faith with care for the poor, drawing on his predecessors’ teachings.

Spanning 121 paragraphs, the document roots itself in the Gospel and Church social doctrine, stating, “In the poor, God ‘continues to speak to us’” (5). Pope Leo underscores the “preferential option for the poor,” noting, “‘preference’ never indicates exclusivity or discrimination towards other groups” but reflects “God’s actions, which are moved by compassion toward the poverty and weakness of all humanity” (16). He adds, “On the wounded faces of the poor, we see the suffering of the innocent and, therefore, the suffering of Christ Himself” (9).

Addressing contemporary issues, he declares, “I can only state once more that inequality ‘is the root of social ills’” (94), criticizing the “dictatorship of an economy that kills” where “the wealth of the few continues to grow ‘exponentially’ while the gap between rich and poor increases” (92). He condemns the “throwaway culture” that “tolerates with indifference that millions of people die of hunger or survive in conditions unfit for human beings” (96), dismissing the idea that “a free-market economy will automatically solve the problem of poverty” (114).

On migration, he asserts, “in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community” (75), advocating to “welcome, protect, promote, and integrate.” He describes the poor as “not only objects of our compassion, but teachers of the Gospel” (79), emphasizing, “Serving the poor is not a gesture to be made ‘from above’, but an encounter between equals, where Christ is revealed and adored… Therefore, when the Church bends down to care for the poor, she assumes her highest posture” (79).

Pope Leo defends charity, insisting, “We Christians must not abandon almsgiving… It will not solve the problem of world poverty, yet it must still be carried out, with intelligence, diligence and social responsibility” (119). He calls for a “change in mentality” where “the dignity of every human person must be respected today, not tomorrow” (92), urging action against “unjust structures” (97), and affirming, “The poor are at the heart of the Church” (111).

Source : Vatican News

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