Dilexi Te: A Radical Gospel Call to Solidarity with the Poor

There is great interest, both within and without the Church, in the figures of the Popes, and the perceived differences between them.

But one area of unmistakable continuity from Papacy to Papacy is the tenor of Catholic Social Teaching. The most important recent document that touches CST is the apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te, begun by Pope Francis and finished by Pope Leo XIV.

Pope Leo XIV signs his first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te (“I Have Loved You”), at the Vatican on October 4, 2025. (Photo: Vatican News)

The personal expression of Divine Love in the title, "I have loved you ..." is richly expressive. It reminds us that God has assured us of His Love in person, that He brought it to a perfect form in His time on earth, and that he then bequeathed love to us as an apostolic mandate. Further, as the Gospel of John reminds us, if we know God, if we wish to know Him, we MUST love, in a similar personal, committed way.

CAPP-USA's very powerful summary of this apostolic exhortation (available here, in English only), outlines the following "Five Surprising Ideas About Poverty from Pope Leo XIV’s Dilexi Te":

1. Not Giving to the Poor Isn’t Just Uncharitable—It’s Stealing

2. The Church’s Most Precious “Treasure” Isn’t Gold—It’s People in Poverty

3. The Poor Aren’t Just Objects of Aid—They Are Our Teachers

4. The Definition of “Poverty” Isn’t Fixed in Stone

5. An “Inseparable Bond” Exists Between Faith and the Poor

The earlier Encyclical Letter, Dilexit Nos ("He loved us") taking its name from St. Paul's witness, also points us towards this need to take up God's love for us and share it in every form of charity.

Catholic Social Teaching is aimed at a faithful, suitable expression in each part of the world. Canada faces its own particular serious difficulties in realizing fraternity and solidarity, and this is painfully manifest in the spiraling forms of precarity and want that can be seen affecting Canadians across the country.

Therefore, fittingly, the CCCB has written a Pastoral Letter, Our Daily Bread: Food Security and the Call to Solidarity, addressing not only the general principle of the Universal Destination of Goods, and the necessary response of solidarity with the poor, but the particular *pressing* problem of widespread food insecurity.

The Most Rev. Christian Lépine, Archbishop of Montreal, Ecclesiastical Counsellor for CAPP-Canada and Chairman of the CCCB's Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace, invites us “to reflect on the contents of this letter and to renew our shared commitment to fostering a culture of justice and peace, so that all may have their daily bread.”