Church

Chapter five of Dilexi te by Pope Leon XIV, presents love for the poor as the heart of the Gospel and a permanent challenge for the Church. Inspired by the Good Samaritan, the text calls for an incarnate, prophetic, and boundless charity, faithful to the heart of God.

Chapter IV of “Dilexi te” traces the history of the Social Doctrine of the Church, from Rerum novarum to the present day, showing that the poor are active subjects of faith and thought. It affirms that the Church is only faithful to Christ when it shares their destiny and that charity, a transforming force, must heal the structural causes of poverty.

Chapter III of “Dilexi te” describes the Church as a servant of the poor, inheriting a history of compassion that heals, liberates, and educates. From the earliest Christians to the present day, charity is revealed as a sign of the Kingdom: touching the suffering flesh of Christ in the marginalized and making faith a concrete and transformative act of love.

The second chapter, “God chooses the Poor,” reveals the theological core of the exhortation: God freely and lovingly chooses the poor—not out of ideology but through love made flesh in Christ, who “became poor.” Leo XIV shows that this choice has biblical roots, fullness in Jesus, and ecclesial demands: a Church without the poor distances itself from the Gospel.

Pope Leo XIV’s Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te centers on Christ’s love revealed in the poor. It calls the Church to love with tenderness and commitment, uniting faith and justice. The Pope denounces indifference and meritocracy, reminding us that serving the poor is encountering Christ and living the heart of the Gospel.