DILEXI TE:ON LOVE FOR THE POOR (APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION) RP 135321

By Pope Leo XIV

Dilexi te:Apostolic Exhortation

In his final months, Pope Francis was preparing an Apostolic Exhortation on the Church's care for the poor. Giving it the title "Dilexi Te", he intended it to be a follow-up to his final encyclical, "Dilexit Nos". The title is a message of love from Jesus to the poor, referring to the Book of Revelation:"You have but little power," yet "I have loved you" (3:9).

Now, at the start of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV has chosen to make this document his own, by adding his own reflections to those of Pope Francis, "since 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."