Unpacking Dilexi Te: What Pope Leo XIV’s First Apostolic Exhortation Means for Catholics Today

In his apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te (“I have loved you”), published on 4 October 2025, Pope Leo XIV presents a compelling vision: Christian faith and love for the poor are inseparable.
From the outset, Leo XIV insists that the poor are not merely recipients of charity but integral to our understanding of the Gospel, and he calls every believer to a deeper solidarity with those who are poor – a solidarity grounded in divine love.

In this quick guide, we look at:

1. How Dilexi Te is structured and its key anchors
2. Five central themes (with paragraph citations)
3. Why this exhortation is especially urgent in our age
4. Ten actionable ways to live Dilexi Te
5. A closing Reflection & Prayer to let its message take root

1. Structure & Anchors: Understanding Dilexi Te

1. Composition and length
   Dilexi Te consists of 5 chapters plus an introduction and a concluding section, totaling 121 numbered paragraphs.
2. Title and scriptural basis
   The phrase “Dilexi te” is drawn from Revelation 3:9 — “I have loved you” — which frames the exhortation’s central motif of divine love meeting human poverty.
3. Continuity with Dilexit Nos
   Leo XIV connects this work explicitly with his predecessor’s last encyclical, Dilexit Nos, taking up Pope Francis’s draft themes on the poor and deepening them in his own voice.
   This establishes both continuity and renewal in the Church’s social magisterium.
4. Outline of Chapters
   The chapters move from foundational theology toward moral challenge and practical mission:
   • Chapter 1: “A Few Essential Words”
   • Chapter 2: “God Chooses the Poor”
   • Chapter 3: “A Church for the Poor”
   • Chapter 4: “A History That Continues”
   • Chapter 5: “A Constant Challenge”

This trajectory takes the reader from why (why God loves the poor) to how (what the Church and individual must do).

2. Five Key Themes in Dilexi Te

Below are five core themes, with citations to Dilexi Te, along with reflections and application.

i. Love for the poor is not optional — it is integral to Christian faith

To love God and to love the poor are inseparable:  “Love for the Lord, then, is one with love for the poor.”  (§5)
Leo XIV states that faith cannot be split from compassion. In §5, he argues that devotion to the Lord must always manifest in deeds of mercy toward the marginalized.
This insistence rejects any notion that spirituality should be detached from material justice.

ii. The poor evangelize us — humility and conversion

In §108, Leo speaks of the poor as “silent teachers”, emphasizing that the marginalized can awaken our own spiritual blindness.
They help us see our pride, our structural blind spots, and call us to conversion. The poor are not passive recipients but active agents in the Christian journey.

iii. Naming structural sin and injustice

In §13, Pope Leo XIV warns against ideological prejudices that downplay or dismiss the existence of poverty and inequality.
He contends that many systems unjustly exclude the vulnerable, and that Christians must resist simplistic dismissals and confront systemic structures.
He calls believers to analyze structures of exclusion, not simply distribute aid.

iv. A Church for the poor, not just a Church with the poor

Leo argues in §36 that the Church must be shaped by its relation to the poor. Quoting Pope Francis, he says:

“[T]here can be no room for doubt or for explanations which weaken so clear a message… We have to state, without mincing words, that there is an inseparable bond between our faith and the poor.” ” (§36)

He draws on Christian history — monastic hospitality, medieval hospital orders, social ministries — to show how the Church’s identity has always been shaped by service to the marginalized.
Thus, caring for the poor is not an optional ministry; it is constitutive of ecclesial life.

v. Concrete obligations: charity, inclusion, advocacy, solidarity

In later sections (e.g. §§49–81), Leo enumerates practical tasks:

• Acts of charity grounded in compassion such as caring for the sick as their mother would
• Advancing dignifying opportunity (eg providing education to the poor and work/employment)
• Engaging in advocacy for the oppressed, freeing captives, resisting trafficking (§60+), protection of migrants (§75)
• Promoting solidarity across divides, especially in policy, social life, and economics.

These demands flow from God’s love and Christ’s poverty — not as optional projects, but as spiritual imperatives.

3. Why Dilexi Te Matters Now: Implications in Our Time

• Renewing Catholic Social Teaching
  Dilexi Te positions Leo XIV’s papacy as a continuation and deepening of the Church’s commitment to the poor, building on Laudato Si’, Fratelli Tutti, and Dilexit Nos.
• Addressing hidden poverty
  Leo observes (§12) that modern poverty is often invisible — in debt, loneliness, systemic neglect — even in wealthy nations.
  Thus, the call is not just for relief, but for discernment about exclusion even in affluent contexts.
• Countering ideological polarization
  In times of heated debates around immigration, welfare, environment, Dilexi Te reminds Christians to stand with human dignity over party lines.
  The document refuses to be co-opted by left or right — it speaks from the Gospel.
• Reorienting parish mission
  Parishes risk becoming inward-looking unless they embed the poor into their DNA. Dilexi Te calls every community to examine whether its structures, priorities, and ministries reflect a heart for the marginalized.
• Forming future Christian leaders
  Seminary programs, Catholic universities, youth ministry — all must integrate Dilexi Te in formation, so future leaders know how to live faith in service of the poor and to critique systems of exclusion.

4. Ten Ways to Live Dilexi Te (Practical Steps)

Here are ten concrete actions you (or your parish) can take to embody Dilexi Te in daily life:

1. Begin each day praying for the poor, asking God to grant eyes to see and ears to hear
2. Weekly act of service or giving — even small, consistent gifts with humility
3. Volunteer with local outreach ministries — shelters, soup kitchens, prison ministries
4. Set a portion of your budget for the poor as a nonnegotiable line item
5. Lead a small-group Bible or reflection series on Dilexi Te (one chapter per week)
6. Preach or share its themes in homilies, reflections, parish bulletins
7. Evaluate how your parish allocates resources — are there neglected and marginalized groups?
8. Engage in public advocacy (housing justice, migrant rights, labor policy) with a Gospel lens
9. Partner with Catholic charities that already have expertise in social service
10. Share testimonies and stories of encounter — invite voices from the margins to speak

These are not optional extras; Pope Leo portrays these acts as necessary consequences of embracing God’s love for the poor.

5. Reflection & Prayer

Reflection:
The words Dilexi te echo in a still heart: “I have loved you.” The love of God precedes our efforts, and in that love, we see the poor as reflections of Christ himself. Will I let that love cast me beyond comfort zones? Will I allow the presence of poverty to interrupt my routines, my assumptions, my security?

Prayer:
Lord Jesus,
You have loved us first — not by what we did, but by who You are. May Your love awaken in me compassion for the poor, courage to act, and humility to learn. Let Dilexi Te shape my heart, my parish, and my world.
Amen.

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