VATICAN CITY (RNS) – In the first official document of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV placed the poor at the heart of the Catholics Church’s teaching, calling bishops around the world to take on the mantle of social justice in defense of the most vulnerable in society, including migrants.
“The Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking,” Leo wrote in the document released Thursday (Oct. 9). “Where the world sees threats, she sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges. She knows that her proclamation of the Gospel is credible only when it is translated into gestures of closeness and welcome. And she knows that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.”
The exhortation, “Dilexi te” (I Have Loved You), divided into five chapters, is addressed to “All Christians.” It was signed on Oct. 4, on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi and follows in the footsteps of his predecessors, who starting with St. John XXIII issued forceful document urging nations and believers to care for the poorest in society.
The exhortation was framed around the fourth and last encyclical by Pope Francis, “Dilexit Nos” (He Loved Us) on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, w …