Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi te, arrived on the feast day of St. Francis of Asissi—fittingly for a message “to all Christians on love for the poor.” People await a pope’s first official document for signs not only of where he intends to take his papacy, but also of how closely he will follow his predecessor. From this exhortation, it is clear that Leo is bringing his own sense of urgency to an issue dear to Pope Francis. In building on a document that Francis was preparing in the last months of his life, the new pope has signaled that he is committed to continuity. “I share the desire of my beloved predecessor that all Christians come to appreciate the close connection between Christ’s love and his summons to care for the poor,” he writes. “I too consider it essential to insist on this path to holiness.” Those who had hoped for signs of a break with Francis immediately resumed their griping.
Dilexi te is a compelling and accessible read that leaves no doubt as to where the focus and energies of the Church—and society—should be. An early section calls attention to the long-acknowledged social and structural causes of poverty while warning of new threats arising from the solipsistic desires of the rich and the rigged system that entrenches inequality:
The illusion of happiness derived from a comfortable life pushes many people towards a vision of life centered on the accumulation of wealth and social success at all costs, even at the expense of others and by taking advantage of unjust social ideals and political-economic systems that favor the strongest. Thus, in a world where the poor are increasingly numerous, we paradoxically see the growth of a wealthy elite, living in a bubble of comfort and luxury…. [A] culture still persists—sometimes well-disguised—that discards others without even realizing it and tolerates with indifference that millions of people die of hunger or survive in conditions unfit for human beings.
A long middle section traces the history of the “inseparable bond between our faith and the poor.” Leo writes that “we have numerous witnesses from disciples of Christ spanning almost two millennia,” beginning with “the nascent Christian community” documented by St. Paul and handed down in the Bible as “God’s revealed word.” Citing the fathers of the Church, the mendicant orders of the thirteenth century, and many other communities as examples, Leo reaffirms that Christianity has never separated belief from social action. He also examines the development of social doctrine since Leo XIII to show how “the epochal change we are now undergoing makes even more necessary a constant interaction between the faithful and the Church’s Magisterium.”
Time and again, Leo condemns the tendency to absolve society of its obligation to ensure distributive justice. “There is no shortage of theories attempting to justify the present state of affairs or to explain that economic thinking requires us to wait for invisible market forces to resolve everything.” Recalling the words of John Paul II in Centesimus annus (1991), Leo writes that “a genuine form of alienation is present when we limit ourselves to theoretical excuses instead of seeking to resolve the concrete problems of those who suffer.” He warns that “remaining in the realm of ideas and theories” while failing to back up our deepest Christian convictions “through frequent and practical acts of charity will cause even our most cherished hopes and aspirations to weaken and fade away.”
Leo is addressing Christians around the world, but certain passages might resonate more in the country of his birth. “The poor, too, remind us how baseless is the attitude of aggressive arrogance with which we frequently confront life’s difficulties.” There are Christian groups and movements that “show little or no interest in the common good of society,” but “we must never forget that religion, especially the Christian religion, cannot be limited to the private sphere.” Leo criticizes the invocation of “pseudo-scientific data...to support the claim that a free market economy will automatically solve the problem of poverty…or that we should opt for pastoral work with the so-called elite, since, rather than wasting time on the poor, it would be better to care for the rich, the influential and professionals, so that with their help real solutions can be found.” For good measure, the Augustinian pope issues necessary clarifications for those inclined to invoke “the Doctor of Grace.” Fidelity to Augustine’s teachings, he writes, “requires not only the study of his works, but also a readiness to live radically his call to conversion, which necessarily includes the service of charity.”
Will Leo’s message be received? As of this writing, 154,000 New York City schoolchildren are homeless. The richest 10 percent of Americans account for half of all consumer spending, while many of their fellow citizens struggle to pay for food and shelter. Donald Trump has leveraged the presidency to boost his personal worth by $3 billion since returning to office, and his favor-seeking donors have contributed $300 million for a garish White House ballroom. Millions of taxpayer dollars are being used to arm ICE with military-grade weaponry, but Trump’s cuts to USAID are expected to kill millions of children around the globe. Far from mere hand-wringing, as one American critic described it, Dilexi te is a forceful call to confront such obvious injustices—a strong dose of moral clarity at a moment of wanton greed and callousness.
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