By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY — Many Christians “need to go back and re-read the Gospel” because they have forgotten that faith and love for the poor go hand in hand, Pope Leo XIV said in his first major papal document.
“Love for the poor — whatever the form their poverty may take — is the evangelical hallmark of a Church faithful to the heart of God,” the pope wrote in “Dilexi Te” (“I Have Loved You”), an apostolic exhortation “to all Christians on love for the poor.”
Pope Leo signed the document Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, and the Vatican released the text Oct. 9. The document was begun by Pope Francis, but Pope Leo added to it.
The exhortation has received praise in San Diego from Catholic leaders on the front lines of serving the poor.
Vino Pajanor, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities, Diocese of San Diego, hailed it as “a deeply moving, refreshing and prophetic call to action.”
It is “not just a theological reflection,” he said. “It is a roadmap for our Church’s mission in our time.”
Deacon Jim Vargas, president and chief executive officer of San Diego’s largest homeless services provider, Father Joe’s Villages, expressed gratitude for the theme that the pope decided to explore in the document.
“I’m grateful that Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation focused on the critical consideration of the poor,” he said. “His Holiness instructs us that ‘we should allow ourselves to be evangelized by the poor.’ This brings me to reflect that to be evangelized by the poor is to be brought before the face of Jesus and transformed, to experience conversion and reconciliation.”
Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, Pope Leo said in the document, “God’s love is vividly demonstrated by his protection of the weak and the poor, to the extent that he can be said to have a particular fondness for them.”
“I am convinced that the preferential choice for the poor is a source of extraordinary renewal both for the Church and for society,” Pope Leo wrote, “if we can only set ourselves free of our self-centeredness and open our ears to their cry.”
Pope Leo also affirmed Church teaching that there are “structures of sin” that keep the poor in poverty and lead those who have sufficient resources to ignore the poor or think they are better than them.
When the Church speaks of God’s preferential option for the poor, he said, it does not exclude or discriminate against others, something “which would be impossible for God.”
“Wanting to inaugurate a kingdom of justice, fraternity and solidarity,” Pope Leo said, “God has a special place in his heart for those who are discriminated against and oppressed, and he asks us, his Church, to make a decisive and radical choice in favor of the weakest.”
That choice, he said, must include pastoral and spiritual care as well as education, health care, jobs training and charity — all of which the Church has provided for centuries.
The document includes a separate section on migrants, with the pope writing, “The Church has always recognized in migrants a living presence of the Lord who, on the day of judgment, will say to those on his right: ‘I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.'”
The quotation is from the Gospel of Matthew 25:35, which is part of the “Judgment of the Nations” in which Jesus clearly states that his followers will be judged on how they care for the poor, the sick, the imprisoned and the foreigner.
“Where the world sees threats, she (the Church) sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges,” the pope continued. “She knows that her proclamation of the Gospel is credible only when it is translated into gestures of closeness and welcome.”
For Catholic Charities, Pajanor said, “Dilexi Te” is “a reaffirmation of our core mission, which is based on Matthew 25.”
He expressed hope that Pope Leo’s exhortation might inspire “a renewed commitment across our Church and diocesan community to walk with the poor, not as benefactors, but as brothers and sisters.”
“Pope Leo, through ‘Dilexi Te,’ invites every parish, ministry and family in our diocese to reflect on how we can make love for the poor a living reality,” he said.
Deacon Vargas said, “I pray that the various members of society, especially those in a position to establish public policy, are moved to remove obstacles and institute opportunities for those mired in poverty.”
Quoting Pope Leo’s words in the document, he added, “When we bend to care for the poor, we assume our highest posture.”
The Southern Cross contributed to this story from Catholic News Service.
