Chapter Four of the encyclical Dilexi te, titled “A History That Continues,” delves into the living and evolving history of the Church’s Social Doctrine, recognizing that its most fruitful root springs from the heart of the poor. Pope Leo XIV offers here a historical and spiritual reflection on more than a century and a half of social teaching, during which the Church, guided by the Spirit, has deepened its understanding of the Gospel from the perspective of the little ones, the marginalized, and those who suffer. This reading is not presented as a mere chronicle of documents, but as a genuine narrative of communion and prophecy, in which the Spirit impels the Church to walk alongside the poor—not only to serve them, but to recognize in them a theological place where God reveals himself and speaks.

The text begins by recalling that the great technological and social transformations of the past two centuries were not only endured but also interpreted and resisted by the poor. The Pope highlights something essential: the Church’s Social Doctrine was not born in offices, but in the concrete lives of men and women of faith who, through their work and commitment, embodied the Gospel amid the changes of their time. In that sense, the Pope affirms that “reality is better seen from the margins” and that the poor possess “a specific intelligence indispensable to the Church and to humanity.” This affirmation, profoundly evangelical and Vincentian, echoes the intuition of Saint Vincent de Paul: the poor are our masters and lords, because in them Christ becomes visible.

The text then traces the milestones of this history: from Leo XIII with Rerum novarum, which denounced the labor injustices of the nineteenth century and opened the way toward a just social order, to John XXIII, who broadened the vision toward global justice and solidarity among nations. The Second Vatican Council occupies a central place, boldly declaring that the Church wishes to be “the Church of all, and in particular, the Church of the poor.” Leo XIV recalls how figures such as Cardinal Lercaro understood that “the mystery of Christ in the Church is always the mystery of Christ in the poor.” From that point on, the Church is called to be conformed to its Lord: a community that is simple, poor, united in solidarity, and prophetic, committed to eradicating every form of poverty.

The Pope then recalls the voice of Saint Paul VI, who affirmed that “the poor are representatives of Christ” and that “all suffering humanity belongs to the Church by evangelical right.” This affirmation is fundamental to Vincentian thought: poverty is not merely a social fact, but a theological mystery that identifies Christ with the poor. In this line, Gaudium et spes and Populorum progressio insisted on the universal destination of goods and on the social function of property, reminding us that no one may keep for themselves what is superfluous while others lack what is necessary. The Church, therefore, does not defend an intimate, inward-looking charity, but a transformative charity that demands structural justice.

The Pope continues with Saint John Paul II, who consolidated the “preferential option for the poor” as a form of primacy in Christian charity and reminded us that love cannot remain at the level of assistance—it must promote the active role of the poor in transforming society. Benedict XVI is also cited, affirming that true charity includes commitment to the common good that responds to real needs, and that world hunger depends not so much on the lack of resources as on the absence of just institutions. This journey culminates with Francis, whose magisterium—heir to the Latin American path—has brought back to the center of the Church the voice of the poor peoples, with his theology of the people and his insistence on the “structures of sin” that generate exclusion and inequality.

Leo XIV does not merely recall the past; he prophetically updates this history. He reminds us that sin can take on structural forms—“structures of sin”—embedded in a mindset that considers as normal what is in fact selfishness and indifference. This “social alienation,” he says, makes us live as if the poor did not exist, justifying economic systems that sacrifice the weak in the name of efficiency. The denunciation thus becomes pastoral: it is not a matter of theorizing about the poor, but of encountering them, living with them, allowing ourselves to be evangelized by them. Charity, the Pope affirms, is a historical force that transforms—and only through it can a society sick with inequality and dehumanization be healed.

The text becomes especially close to the Vincentian charism when it addresses the preferential option for the poor as a relationship of friendship and real closeness. It recalls the words of Aparecida: “only the closeness that makes us friends allows us to deeply appreciate the values of the poor.” Pope Leo XIV sees in this friendship the heart of Christian discipleship: it is not enough to help the poor—we must share life with them, recognize their wisdom, their simple faith, their embodied hope. The poor are not objects of compassion but subjects of evangelization. They are teachers who teach us how to live the Gospel from within precariousness and radical trust in God.

The chapter culminates with a demanding and hope-filled vision: the poor are the voice of God in the world, a sacrament of his presence, and a source of conversion for the Church. “We must allow ourselves to be evangelized by them,” the text says, because in their gestures, silences, and resilience, God continues to speak. Those who live among the poor—as so many Vincentian missionaries do—know that within them dwells a wisdom that cannot be learned from books. This wisdom—the wisdom of those who live on the margins, trust in God, and help one another—is the very wisdom that can heal societies broken by self-sufficiency and consumerism.

The Pope ends this chapter with an invitation to simplify our lives, to listen to the reproach that the poor direct toward us through their very existence. In them, he says, we find a mirror that reflects the true face of the Gospel. The Church, if it wishes to remain faithful to her Lord, must continue to follow “a story that continues”: the story of a community that learns from the poor, struggles alongside them, and, like Saint Vincent de Paul, recognizes in their faces the suffering and glorious face of Christ.

Some Citations from Chapter IV for Reflection

CITATION 1

The acceleration of technological and social change in the past two centuries, with all its contradictions and conflicts, not only had an impact on the lives of the poor but also became the object of debate and reflection on their part … Here too, it needs to be acknowledged once more that reality is best viewed from the sidelines, and that the poor are possessed of unique insights indispensable to the Church and to humanity as a whole.
(Dilexi te, 82)

This text places us before a profoundly evangelical conviction: the poor are not objects of study nor passive recipients of aid, but subjects of thought, discernment, and action. Leo XIV invites us to look at history from the periphery, because it is there that reality reveals itself without disguise.

Saint Vincent de Paul understood that when we serve the poor, we come into contact with a different kind of wisdom—one born from the experience of suffering and from radical trust in God. This “specific intelligence” is not merely social or practical; it is theological. The poor understand God from the place of need, from loving dependence, from the solidarity that arises out of limitation.

To evangelize means to allow ourselves to be evangelized by the poor—to listen to their voice, to learn their language of hope, to discover that faith becomes purer when lived in smallness. The Church’s Social Doctrine was not born in academies, but in the believing experience of the people. To look from the margins is to look as Christ did, who chose to be born in a manger and to live among the least.

Questions for Reflection

1. What does the gaze of the poor teach me about the truth of life and faith?
2. Am I willing to listen to and learn from those who live on the margins?
3. How can I help my community see and act from that “specific intelligence” of the poor?

CITATION 2

The mystery of Christ in the Church has always been and today is, in a particular way, the mystery of Christ in the poor … this is not simply one theme among others, but in some sense the only theme of the [Second Vatican] Council as a whole.
(Dilexi te, 84)

These words of Cardinal Lercaro, quoted by Leo XIV, possess an extraordinary spiritual depth. They declare that the heart of both the Gospel and the Council is Christ in the poor. It is not just another theme—it is the key to everything.

Saint Vincent de Paul discovered in the poor not only the need for assistance but also the real presence of the Lord. For him, serving the poor was an act of adoration of Jesus Christ in them.

Leo XIV reminds us that the Church will only truly be the Church if it allows itself to be shaped by the poor Christ. The mystery of Christ is not celebrated only in the liturgy but also in the wounded flesh of those who suffer exclusion. Vincentian theology is, at its core, an incarnate Christology: God allows himself to be found where humanity is most vulnerable.

This affirmation challenges us to reexamine our priorities: do we center our Christian life on the contemplation of Christ who lives in the poor? Or do we continue to seek God far from human suffering? In the poor, the mystery of Christ becomes transparent, urgent, and fruitful.

Questions for Reflection

1. How do I discover the “mystery of Christ” in the poor people I encounter?
2. Do my faith and ministry reflect this conviction, or do they relegate it to something secondary?
3. What concrete changes does my community need in order to become more truly a “Church of the poor”?

CITATION 3

The poor are representatives of Christ, and compared the image of the Lord in the poor to that seen in the Pope. He [Paul VI] affirmed this truth with these words: “The representation of Christ in the poor is universal; every poor person reflects Christ; that of the Pope is personal… The poor man and Peter can be one in the same person, clothed in a double representation; that of poverty and that of authority.”
(Dilexi te, 85)

With this affirmation of Saint Paul VI, the Pope identifies the poor as the universal representative of Christ. In every wounded face, in every exhausted body, the mystery of the Incarnation shines forth. Service to the poor is not philanthropy but a sacramental encounter. Whoever looks upon the poor with respect and love is looking upon the Lord himself.

The paradox posed by Paul VI—“the poor and Peter may coincide”—reminds us that Christian authority is only authentic when it is clothed in poverty. Ecclesial leadership is not measured by power, but by service.

In this vision, the theology of self-emptying is revealed: Christ reigns from humility. Therefore, to serve is not to lose dignity, but to manifest it in its fullness. The Vincentian mission consists precisely in this: to make Christ visible in suffering flesh and to recognize in the poor a moral and spiritual authority that challenges us.

Questions for Reflection

1. Do I recognize in the poor a real presence of Christ that calls me to reverence?
2. How do I exercise authority or leadership from evangelical poverty?
3. Can I truly say that in my service “the poor and Peter coincide”?

CITATION 4

“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 under the guidance of justice tempered by charity… In their use of things people should regard the external goods they lawfully possess as not just their own but common to others as well, in the sense that they can benefit others as well as themselves. Therefore, everyone has the right to possess a sufficient amount of the earth’s goods for themselves and their family… Persons in extreme necessity are entitled to take what they need from the riches of others… By its nature, private property has a social dimension that is based on the law of the common destination of earthly goods. Whenever the social aspect is forgotten, ownership can often become the object of greed and a source of serious disorder.”
(Dilexi te, 86)

This passage from Gaudium et spes, quoted in full by Leo XIV, is fundamental to the Church’s Social Doctrine and proclaims forcefully that the goods of the earth belong to all. This conviction takes on a practical dimension: sharing is not a secondary moral option but a Gospel duty.

The Pope warns us that when we forget the social dimension of property, we open the door to ambition and disorder. And this is not limited to the powerful—every Christian is called to live with austerity and generosity.

The Kingdom of God is built when bread is shared, when the earth is cared for, and when goods are transformed into fraternity. The Gospel does not condemn property itself, but the absolutization of it. The follower of Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac is called to live joyful simplicity, which frees from selfishness and creates communion.

Questions for Reflection

1. How do I understand ownership and the use of the goods I possess?
2. What concrete steps do I take to live an economy of communion rather than accumulation?
3. What can I do to help ensure that the poor have real access to common goods?

CITATION 5

Charity has the power to change reality; it is a genuine force for change in history. It is the source that must inspire and guide every effort to resolve the structural causes of poverty, and to do so with urgency.
(Dilexi te, 91)

Charity is not limited to offering comfort—it transforms structures. Leo XIV reminds us that love is a historical energy, not a fleeting emotion. In the Gospel, love has political, social, and cultural consequences.

For Saint Vincent de Paul, true charity had to be both “affective and effective”: it had to touch the heart, but also organize assistance and change the causes of suffering. A faith that does not translate into justice and transformation is not yet a mature faith.

The Pope denounces the danger of superficial charity that puts out fires without changing the system that causes them. That is why he calls for a lucid and structural commitment. We Vincentians are called to provoke systemic change—to be agents of love that organizes, love that transforms, love that becomes social justice.

Only love that engages with causes can truly “change reality.” This is the spirituality of the washing of the feet: to love on one’s knees, but with active hands.

Questions for Reflection

1. Do I live charity as a feeling or as a force that transforms?
2. Does my service address the structural causes of poverty, or does it remain at the level of immediate aid?
3. How can I unite my prayer and my action so that my love may be effective?

CITATION 6

We must continue, then, to denounce the “dictatorship of an economy that kills,” and to recognize that “while the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few … A new tyranny is being born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules.”
(Dilexi te, 92)

The “dictatorship of an economy that kills” is not a metaphor—it is a concrete denunciation of a system that sacrifices lives in the name of profit. Poverty is not merely a material condition but a structural injustice. It is not enough to assist the poor; we must question the causes that impoverish them. As long as money rules without ethics, the poor will continue to be crucified.

Saint Vincent, in his time, already understood that charity could not be content with consoling—it had to prevent evil, reform structures, educate, and promote.

A Christian cannot remain neutral in the face of this reality. His or her commitment must have a voice—it must denounce and propose. The economy of the Gospel is not an economy of exclusion, but of communion. Wherever the market excludes, the Church is called to include.

Questions for Reflection

1. Am I aware of the structural injustices that generate poverty?
2. Does my lifestyle, even indirectly, contribute to this “economy that kills”?
3. How can I, from where I am, promote an economy of the common good?

CITATION 7

We need to be increasingly committed to resolving the structural causes of poverty … Welfare projects, which meet certain urgent needs, should be considered merely provisional responses. I can only state once more that inequality “is the root of social ills.”
(Dilexi te, 94)

The fight against poverty cannot be based solely on welfare or assistance. Charity does not replace justice.

Today, the Pope calls us to take a further step: to transform the unjust structures that produce exclusion. When inequality becomes normalized, the social soul becomes sick. Inequity is sin, not fate.

Following Christ means working for equity through closeness to the poor—through education, politics, and a solidarity-based economy. It is not only about alleviating pain but about healing the roots of evil.

Questions for Reflection

1. Are my actions toward the poor merely passing charity or transformative commitment?
2. How can I contribute to changing the causes of inequality?
3. What unjust structures do I perceive around me that need conversion?

CITATION 8

“Only the closeness that makes us friends enables us to appreciate deeply the values of the poor today, their legitimate desires, and their own manner of living the faith… Day by day, the poor become agents of evangelization and of comprehensive human promotion … In the light of the Gospel, we recognize their immense dignity and their sacred worth in the eyes of Christ, who was poor like them and excluded among them.”
(Dilexi te, 100)

Pope Leo XIV makes his own this passage from the Aparecida Document, which touches the very heart of the Vincentian charism: friendship with the poor. There is no true evangelization without closeness, without sharing life.

The Pope does not speak of distant accompaniment, but of real friendship—living with, walking with, suffering with. Only friendship allows us to discover the sacred value of the poor, not for their usefulness, but for their dignity. Vincentian evangelization is bidirectional: they, too, evangelize us.

When the poor become subjects of evangelization, the Church is renewed. Their simple faith, stubborn hope, and silent solidarity are light for all. To be a friend of the poor is to enter into communion with Christ, the Friend who became poor out of love.

Questions for Reflection

1. Do I live closeness with the poor as a relationship of friendship or of assistance?
2. What do the poor teach me about the Gospel?
3. Am I willing to allow myself to be evangelized by them?

CITATION 9

“This loving attentiveness is the beginning of a true concern for their person which inspires me effectively to seek their good … True love is always contemplative, and permits us to serve the other not out of necessity or vanity, but rather because he or she is beautiful above and beyond mere appearances.”
(Dilexi te, 101)

Here the Pope quotes Evangelii gaudium and offers us a beautiful description of Christian love: a contemplative love, capable of seeing beauty in every person—even in their poverty.

The contemplative gaze does not judge or measure; it pauses, is moved, and recognizes the mystery of God in the other. This is the core of Vincentian spirituality: to serve from tenderness, not from obligation.

Saint Vincent insisted on looking at the poor with the eyes of faith, because without that gaze, service turns into activism or vanity. Only loving contemplation transforms the heart and enables us to serve out of pure love.

In a world that looks hurriedly and discards what it cannot use, this “loving attention” is a silent revolution. It is the gaze of Christ who, in meeting the blind man, the leper, or the sinful woman, reveals their inner beauty.

Questions for Reflection

1. Do I look at the poor with tenderness and respect, or with pity and distance?
2. How do I cultivate a contemplative gaze in the midst of action?
3. What people have revealed to me the hidden beauty of suffering?

CITATION 10

Let ourselves be evangelized by the poor and acknowledge the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.
(Dilexi te, 102)

The Pope concludes the chapter with this invitation, which sums up the entire spiritual journey of the text. The poor are not only recipients of evangelization—they are its bearers. The poor teach us to trust, to persevere, to believe in the midst of darkness. Their lives are an incarnate Gospel.

Allowing ourselves to be evangelized by them requires humility. It means recognizing that, in their vulnerability, they possess a divine wisdom that corrects our self-sufficiency. They bring us back to the core of Christianity: gratuity, dependence on God, and true fraternity.

The world changes when we listen to their silent word, their unadorned faith, their hope that endures. Through them, God continues to speak to us.

Questions for Reflection

1. Do I allow myself to be evangelized by the poor, or do I only feel called to help them?
2. What concrete wisdom have I received from them?
3. How can my community learn to listen to the voice of God in the smallest ones?

Community Prayer

Lord Jesus, Son of God made poor,
You who walked the dusty roads of the world,
seeking the forgotten and embracing the small,
today we come to You as a Church that truly wants to follow You,
as a community that longs to listen
to the wisdom of the poor and learn from their faith.
All: Teach us, Lord, to see from the margins.

We thank You, Lord, for the living history of Your Church,
for the prophets and shepherds who, guided by Your Spirit,
raised their voices for justice and reminded the world
that the goods of the earth belong to all.
Thank You for those who have made charity a path of transformation,
for those who have loved without measure, served without reward,
and believed that love is a force capable of changing history.
All: We thank You, Lord, for the gift of charity that builds the Kingdom.

But we also ask Your forgiveness, Lord,
for our indifference and for the times we have denied You
in the faces of those who suffer.
Forgive us when we settle into comfort,
when we justify injustice,
when we prefer to speak of You without encountering You in the poor.
Purify our sight so we may recognize You on the margins,
and give us hearts sensitive to the world’s pain.
All: Convert us, Lord, and make us disciples of Your compassion.

We pray to You, Lord, for Your Church:
make her ever simpler, more servant-hearted, more like You.
May she not seek power or prestige,
but rejoice in fraternity and evangelical poverty.
May her shepherds live with the smell of the sheep and the hands of a brother;
may her communities be an open home for those without one;
and may her voice join the cry of those who are not heard.
All: Make Your Church, Lord, a sign of hope for the poor.

We present to You, Lord, our brothers and sisters
who today live without shelter, without work, without bread, without peace.
You know them by name; You walk beside them.
May they feel Your presence in those who accompany them,
in those who share their table, in those who fight for their dignity.
May no structure of injustice steal their hope,
and may we know how to defend them with tenderness and courage.
All: Accompany the poor, Lord, and make us companions on their journey.

Lord of history,
grant us the wisdom and courage to transform what destroys life.
May our charity not be a mere palliative, but a leaven of justice.
May the powerful open their hands and peoples learn to share.
May our laws, our economies, and our cities
reflect Your Kingdom of fraternity,
where no one has too much and no one has too little.
All: Make us artisans of a just and compassionate society.

We praise You, Lord, for the hidden wisdom of the poor:
for their patience, their joy, their enduring faith, their unfailing hope.
They are Your teachers, Your silent prophets,
Your messengers amid the noise of the world.
May we know how to sit at their table,
listen to their stories, and learn their way of believing and loving.
May their simple faith renew ours,
and their trust bring us back to the pure Gospel of the beginnings.
All: Grant us, Lord, the humility to be evangelized by the poor.

We thank You, Lord, for Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac,
and for all the men and women who, following their example,
have made charity their vocation and their joy.
Bless the Vincentian Family throughout the world:
the sisters, priests, and brothers, the committed laity,
the young people who serve with joy,
those who pray, visit, accompany, heal, teach, and console.
May the fire of inventive love, even to infinity, burn within them all.
All: Renew in us, Lord, the spirit of Saint Vincent and Saint Louise.

Lord Jesus, Teacher and Brother,
You who chose to live poor among the poor,
make us instruments of Your Kingdom of justice and mercy.
Send Your Spirit upon us,
that we may see reality with the eyes of faith,
love with hands of service,
and walk with the poor until all have bread, home, and hope.
Amen.