Dear Friends,
On October 9, the Feast of St. John Henry Newman, Pope Leo XIV released his first Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi te — “I Have Loved You.” Signed on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, October 4, 2025, the document carries a spirit of both continuity and renewal. It was begun by Pope Francis before his death and completed by his successor, Pope Leo XIV, who has chosen to begin his pontificate with a message that speaks directly to the heart of the Gospel: God’s love made visible in care for the poor.
This exhortation continues the reflection started in Pope Francis’s final encyclical, Dilexit nos (“He Has Loved Us”), on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. If Dilexit nos revealed the boundless love of God poured out for humanity, Dilexi te turns that love into a summons — a call to live what we have received. “Love for the Lord,” Pope Leo writes, “is one with love for the poor.” There can be no genuine love of God that does not express itself in tenderness, justice, and mercy toward our neighbor.
A Call to Unite Prayer and Service
In Dilexi te, Pope Leo reminds us that faith and life cannot be separated. He calls the Church to a conversion of heart — one that joins prayer with action, devotion with justice, and worship with compassion. “Through your work,” he writes, “your efforts to change unjust social structures, or your simple, heartfelt gesture of closeness and support, the poor will come to realize that Jesus’ words are addressed personally to each of them: ‘I have loved you.’”
Christian love, the Pope insists, is not an abstract virtue but a concrete path. It breaks down barriers, brings close those who were distant, unites strangers, and reconciles enemies. It is expressed in the way we see others, speak about them, and walk with them. The poor are not objects of pity but subjects of grace — living icons of Christ’s presence in our midst. Every parish and community must therefore measure its vitality not by the size of its programs or buildings but by the compassion of its people.
