On Saturday, October 4, Pope Leo XIV signed the apostolic exhortation Dilexi te, the first major document of his pontificate. Focused on love for the poor, it will continue the work of his predecessor, Francis, who began writing this text during the last months of his life.
To provide background for this exhortation, we offer you brief passages from the messages that Pope Francis wrote for the World Days of the Poor — created by him in 2017.
They will allow you to review his teachings on one of the most present themes of his pontificate.
2017 | The poor are not a problem
“The poor are not a problem: they are a resource from which to draw as we strive to accept and practice in our lives the essence of the Gospel.”
In his first message for World Day of the Poor, the Pope cites St. Francis as an example — who “was not satisfied to embrace lepers and give them alms, but chose to [...] stay with them.”
This invites us not to think of the poor solely as the recipients of a good deed that will ease our conscience. Rather, Francis exhorts us to “a true encounter” where “sharing [...] becomes a way of life.”
“If we truly wish to encounter Christ, we have to touch his body in the suffering bodies of the poor, as a response to the sacramental communion bestowed in the Eucharist.”
2018 | The poor need our personal commitment
“God’s salvation is a hand held out to the poor, a hand that welcomes, protects, and enables them to experience the friendship they need.”
Focusing on Psalm 34, Francis emphasizes that, in response to the cry of the poor to God, He responds by healing their wounds and saving them.
In the text, he invites us to reflect: “We can ask ourselves how their plea, which rises to the presence of God, can fail to reach our own ears, or leave us cold and indifferent.”
“God’s answer is also a summons to those who believe in him to do likewise, within the limits of what is humanly possible.” He therefore reminds us:
“The poor do not need intermediaries, but the personal involvement of all those who hear their cry.”
2019 | Jesus was not afraid to identify with the poor
“The poor save us because they enable us to encounter the face of Jesus Christ.”
On this occasion, Pope Francis strongly denounced the injustices and inaction that allow inequalities and injustices to remain.
“Frequently judged parasites on society, the poor are not even forgiven their poverty. Judgment is always around the corner. They are not allowed to be timid or discouraged; they are seen as a threat or simply useless, simply because they are poor.”
He reminds us that, as Christians, we are called to choose the poor “so as not to impugn the Church’s credibility but to give real hope to many of our vulnerable brothers and sisters.”
“If we refuse to make this identification, we falsify the Gospel and water down God’s revelation.”
2020 | Prayer and solidarity with the poor are inseparable
“Prayer attains its goal when accompanied by service to the poor.”
In this message, the pontiff delves into the link that must exist between spiritual life and works of charity. He reminds us that, for worship to be pleasing to God, we need to leave indifference behind and reach out as a sign of closeness and love.
He also categorically states that prayer does not replace our responsibility to support the disadvantaged in times of need.
“Time devoted to prayer can never become an alibi for neglecting our neighbour in need. In fact the very opposite is true.”
2021 | The poor are sacraments of Christ and evangelizers
“In everything, Jesus teaches that poverty is not the result of fate, but a concrete sign pointing to his presence among us.”
On this occasion, Pope Francis affirms that, “The poor are true evangelizers, for they were the first to be evangelized and called to share in the Lord's joy and his kingdom (cf. Mt 5:3).”
“The poor, always and everywhere, evangelize us, because they enable us to discover in new ways the true face of the Father.”
2022 | The poverty of Christ liberates
“There is a poverty that humiliates and kills, and another poverty, Christ’s own poverty, that sets us free and brings us peace.”
In this text, Francis reminds us that the problem is not goods, but the relationship we have with them and the excessive importance we sometimes attach to them.
Therefore, he emphasizes, “Encountering the poor enables us to put an end to many of our anxieties and empty fears, and to arrive at what truly matters in life, the treasure that no one can steal from us: true and gratuitous love.”
“Because Christ became poor for our sakes, our own lives are illumined and transformed, and take on a worth that the world does not appreciate and cannot bestow. Jesus’ treasure is his love.”
2023 | Every Christian must get involved
“In a word, whenever we encounter a poor person, we cannot look away, for that would prevent us from encountering the face of the Lord Jesus.”
On this occasion, Francis warns about two features of today's culture that affect our Christian vocation to charity: the rejection of what is uncomfortable or causes suffering, and the haste that prevents us from stopping to encounter those in need and share with them.
“It is easy to delegate charity to others, yet the calling of every Christian is to become personally involved.”
2024 | Before God, we are all poor and needy
“We are all beggars because, without God, we would be nothing. We would not even have life if God had not given it to us. Yet how often we live as if we were the masters of life or as if we had to conquer it!”
In this last message, Pope Francis invites us to recognize that we are all poor and in need of God. He thus asks us to “make the prayer of the poor our own and pray together with them.”
He recognizes that this requires a humble heart, “one that has the courage to become a beggar. A heart that is ready to acknowledge itself as poor and needy” of God.
“The poor, having nothing to rely on, receive strength from God and place all their trust in him. Indeed, humility generates trust that God will never abandon us and will never leave us without a response.”
