A papal encyclical on “the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ” will be published on October 24, 2024, the Vatican press office announced October 21. Dilexit nos (“He loved us”) will be Pope Francis' fourth encyclical, following Lumen Fidei (2013, written in collaboration with his predecessor Benedict XVI), Laudato si' (2015) and Fratelli tutti (2020).
Encyclicals - a term of Greek origin meaning “circular” (ἐγκύκλιος / enkuklios) - are letters addressed by a pope to all the bishops or Catholics across the world. They are the highest degree of papal documents.
Pope Francis’ new text, titled “Dilexit nos - Encyclical Letter on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ,” will be published on October 24, and presented at a press conference the same day.
Theologian and Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto (Italy), Bruno Forte, and Sister Antonella Fraccaro, general head of the Disciples of the Gospel, will present the document.
An announcement back in June
During a general audience on June 5, just a few days before the feast of the Sacred Heart - celebrated this year on June 7, the third Friday after Pentecost - Pope Francis announced that he would publish a magisterial text on this traditional devotion, which has marked Catholicism for over three centuries.
“I am pleased to prepare a document that brings together the precious reflections of previous Magisterial texts and a long history that goes back to the Sacred Scriptures, in order to re-propose today, to the whole Church, this devotion imbued with spiritual beauty,” Pope Francis had said at the time.
He explained that this initiative was part of a series of celebrations to mark the “350th anniversary of the first manifestation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.”
The commemorative events began on December 27, 2023, and will last until June 27, 2025.
A devotion that gained popularity in France and spread worldwide
The Sacred Heart of Jesus is often depicted as a flaming and bleeding heart, sometimes with a crown of thorns and a small cross, symbolizing Christ's sacrifice. The devotion to this symbol dates back to the Middle Ages, and was popularized in the 17th century by the French saint, John Eudes, and then by St. Marguerite-Marie Alacoque, after an apparition at Paray-le-Monial in central France.
“I believe it will do us great good to meditate on various aspects of the Lord’s love, which can illuminate the path of ecclesial renewal, and say something meaningful to a world that seems to have lost its heart,” Pope Francis emphasized during the general audience in June.
“I ask you to accompany me with prayer, during this time of preparation, with the intention of making this document public next September,” he announced at the time.
The leaders of the Spanish Bishops' Conference, who had visited the Vatican on May 31, had announced that Pope Francis was preparing an apostolic exhortation on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In the end, the document will be published a few weeks later than planned, but with the higher status of an encyclical.
The previous encyclical dedicated to this theme, Haurietis aqua, was published by Pius XII in 1956, to mark the centenary of the extension of this feast to the whole Church, decided by Pius IX in 1856.
