Summary of “Dilexi Te”
Pope Leo XIV’s Apostolic Exhortation “Dilexi Te” (I Have Loved You) represents a profound meditation on the Church’s relationship with the poor, building upon a document Pope Francis was preparing before his death. Released on October 4, 2025, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, it weaves together Scripture, Church history, and contemporary social teaching to argue that love for the poor is not optional but essential to Christian identity.
Biblical Foundations
The document begins with the assertion that God’s love for the poor is evident throughout salvation history. From the burning bush where God declares he has heard the cry of the oppressed (Exodus 3:7-8), through the prophets’ denunciations of injustice, to Jesus’s identification with “the lowest ranks of society,” Scripture consistently shows God taking the side of the vulnerable. Pope Francis had written in Dilexit Nos that Jesus “confirms the dignity of every human being, especially when ‘they are weak, scorned, or suffering'” (Francis, 2024, p. 1422). Jesus himself was born into poverty, worked as a carpenter, experienced rejection, and died as an outcast. His first public declaration in Nazareth was that he came “to bring good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18).
The Beatitudes, where Jesus pronounces the poor blessed, and the parable of the Final Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46), where service to the least becomes the criterion for salvation, demonstrate that encountering Christ requires encountering the poor. As Pope Francis emphasized in Gaudete et Exsultate, “if we seek the holiness pleasing to God’s eyes, this text offers us one clear criterion on which we will be judged” (Francis, 2018, p. 1137). The document emphasizes, “Just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). How unique is this? How different is this than any political party?
Historical Witness
A substantial portion of the exhortation traces how the Church has embodied this preferential love throughout history. The early Church appointed deacons specifically to serve the poor, with Saint Stephen becoming the first martyr who “belonged to this group. In him, the witness of caring for the poor and of martyrdom are united” (Leo XIV, 2025, §37). Saint Ambrose recounts how Saint Lawrence, another deacon martyred in Rome, was commanded by Roman authorities to surrender the Church’s treasures. According to Ambrose’s account, “The following day he brought the poor with him. Questioned about where the promised treasures might be, he pointed to the poor saying, ‘These are the treasures of the Church'” (Ambrose, 4th century/2000, p. 148). Ambrose then asks rhetorically: “What treasures does Jesus have that are more precious than those in which he loves to show himself?” (Ambrose, 4th century/2000, p. 148).
The Church Fathers understood care for the poor as integral to worship. Saint John Chrysostom boldly proclaimed: “Do you wish to honor the body of Christ? Do not allow it to be despised in its members, that is, in the poor, who have no clothes to cover themselves” (John Chrysostom, 4th century/1862, col. 508). He went further, stating unequivocally: “not giving to the poor is stealing from them, defrauding them of their lives, because what we have belongs to them” (John Chrysostom, 4th century/1862, col. 992). Saint Augustine saw the poor as the “sacramental presence of the Lord,” teaching that true Christians “know if they are in need, but if Christ dwells in you, also be charitable to strangers” (Augustine, 5th century/2001, p. 181).
Monastic communities, from Saint Basil’s hospitals to Benedictine hospitality, created structures of solidarity. Saint Basil taught that monks must “work diligently… This way of life is profitable not only for subduing the body, but also for charity towards our neighbor, so that through us God may provide enough for our weaker brothers and sisters” (Basil the Great, 4th century/1857, col. 1009). The Rule of Saint Benedict specified: “The poor and pilgrims are to be received with all care and hospitality, for it is in them that Christ is received” (Benedict of Nursia, 6th century/1972, p. 614).
Mendicant orders like the Franciscans and Dominicans embraced radical poverty. Saint Francis’s Rule commanded that “the brothers should not appropriate anything, neither house, nor place, nor anything else. And as pilgrims and strangers in this world, serving the Lord in poverty and humility, they should go about begging with confidence” (Francis of Assisi, 1223/1981, p. 192). Saint Clare of Assisi fought to maintain this ideal of radical poverty, obtaining from Pope Gregory IX the Privilegium Paupertatis—the privilege of poverty—which guaranteed her community “the right to live without any material goods” (Leo XIV, 2025, §65). What is it about poverty that can be fruitful, when the heart is centered on Christ?
Modern Social Teaching
The document emphasizes how papal teaching since Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum (1891) has developed a comprehensive social doctrine addressing poverty. The Second Vatican Council incarnated these principles once again, with Saint John XXIII declaring in his 1962 radio message that the Church “presents herself as she is and as she wishes to be: the Church of all and in particular the Church of the poor” (John XXIII, 1962, p. 682). Cardinal Lercaro, in his intervention during the Council, articulated this vision powerfully: “The mystery of Christ in the Church has always been and today is, in a particular way, the mystery of Christ in the poor” (Lercaro, 1962, p. 327-328).
The Council’s Gaudium et Spes affirmed the universal destination of earthly goods, teaching that “God destined the earth and all it contains for all people and nations so that all created things would be shared fairly by all humankind” and that “persons in extreme necessity are entitled to take what they need from the riches of others” (Second Vatican Council, 1965, §69).
Saint John Paul II consolidated the “preferential option for the poor” as “a special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity, to which the whole tradition of the Church bears witness” (John Paul II, 1987, p. 572). He insisted that “this love of preference for the poor, and the decisions which it inspires in us, cannot but embrace the immense multitudes of the hungry, the needy, the homeless” (John Paul II, 1987, p. 573). He also emphasized that “human work is a key, probably the essential key, to the whole social question” (John Paul II, 1981, p. 584), thus highlighting the active role the poor should play in society. Benedict XVI emphasized political action, stating that “the more we strive to secure a common good corresponding to the real needs of our neighbors, the more effectively we love them” (Benedict XVI, 2009, p. 645).
The Latin American bishops’ conference is rich in this teaching. At Medellín in 1968, they declared: “Christ our Savior not only loved the poor, but, ‘being rich, he became poor’… The poverty endured by so many of our brothers and sisters cries out for justice, solidarity, witness, commitment” (CELAM, 1968, p. 131-132). The Aparecida Document later emphasized that the Church’s preferential option for the poor “is implicit in the Christological faith in the God who became poor for us, so as to enrich us with his poverty” (CELAM, 2007, p. 179-180).
Structural Sin and Inequality
Pope Leo XIV doesn’t shy from challenging economic systems. Drawing on Pope Francis’s teaching that social sin consolidates a “structure of sin” within society (Francis, 2024, p. 1427), the document denounces systemic injustices that normalize selfishness and indifference. Pope Francis had written in Fratelli Tutti that “some economic rules have proved effective for growth, but not for integral human development. Wealth has increased, but together with inequality” (Francis, 2020, p. 976).
The exhortation insists that “inequality is the root of social ills” (Francis, 2013, p. 1105) and states clearly that “welfare projects, which meet certain urgent needs, should be considered merely provisional responses” (Francis, 2013, p. 1105). To me this calls into question the philosophical and cognitive structures of injustice. What is the origin of inequality in the heart of man? And how does being a social creature impact this?
The exhortations calls for recognition that poverty isn’t fate or individual failure but often the result of unjust systems. I would add to this that any unjust system has disorder promoted in its parts. Pope Saint John Paul II had observed that “a society is alienated if its forms of social organization, production and consumption make it more difficult to offer the gift of self and to establish solidarity between people (i.e. by sacrifice)” (John Paul II, 1991, p. 844-845).
The document notes that “the current model, with its emphasis on success and self-reliance, does not appear to favor an investment in efforts to help the slow, the weak or the less talented to find opportunities in life” (Francis, 2019, p. 458). It challenges readers to ask whether those with fewer opportunities have less dignity or whether they should merely survive rather than flourish. What does it mean for someone with different abilities than you to flourish?
The Poor as Subjects, Not Objects
A crucial insight is that the poor must be recognized as active subjects capable of creating and contributing to culture. The Aparecida Document taught that “day by day, the poor become agents of evangelization and of comprehensive human promotion: they educate their children in the faith, engage in ongoing solidarity among relatives and neighbors, constantly seek God, and give life to the Church’s pilgrimage” (CELAM, 2007, p. 182). Pope Francis emphasized in Evangelii Gaudium that we must “let ourselves be evangelized” by the poor and acknowledge “the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them” (Francis, 2013, p. 1103).
The document insists that “this loving attentiveness is the beginning of a true concern for their person which inspires me effectively to seek their good. This entails appreciating the poor in their goodness, in their experience of life, in their culture, and in their ways of living the faith” (Francis, 2013, p. 1103). True accompaniment requires moving beyond what the Aparecida bishops identified as “paternalism” toward genuine solidarity (CELAM, 2007, §397).
Contemporary Relevance
The document addresses modern challenges through the Good Samaritan parable. Pope Francis wrote in Fratelli Tutti: “Which of these persons do you identify with? This question, blunt as it is, is direct and incisive… We have become accustomed to looking the other way, passing by, and ignoring situations until they affect us directly” (Francis, 2020, p. 992). Pope Francis had also asked in Gaudete et Exsultate: “Can holiness somehow be understood apart from this lively recognition of the dignity of each human being?” (Francis, 2018, p. 1137).
The exhortation warns against a “culture of indifference” and defends almsgiving against modern skepticism. While acknowledging that “the most important way to help the disadvantaged is to assist them in finding a good job” (Leo XIV, 2025, §115), the document argues that direct acts of charity create encounter and restore dignity through relationship. Saint Gregory the Great is quoted teaching that “every minute we can find a Lazarus if we seek him, and every day, even without seeking, we find one at our door” (Gregory the Great, 6th century/2008, p. 552-554). I think we need to remember that are many works that aren’t necessarily jobs too that the sick and disabled can engage in on behalf of humanity and for the glory of God.
Call to Action
The document concludes by insisting that care for the poor is central to Church identity. The poor are the “flesh of Christ” (Francis, 2013, p. 1040). Pope Francis warned that “any Church community, if it thinks it can comfortably go its own way without creative concern and effective cooperation in helping the poor to live with dignity and reaching out to everyone, will also risk breaking down” (Francis, 2013, p. 1107).
Every Christian is called to concrete action: touching the suffering flesh of the poor, working for justice, and changing unjust structures. The document emphasizes that “the message of God’s word is so clear and direct, so simple and eloquent, that no ecclesial interpretation has the right to relativize it” (Francis, 2013, p. 1101). Christian love “breaks down every barrier, brings close those who were distant, unites strangers, and reconciles enemies” (Leo XIV, 2025, §120).
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