'Dilexi Te' defined by charity, continuity and unity

(OSV News) -- Five months into his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV has promulgated his first official document, making as his own the draft of a text unfinished by his predecessor.

Described as an exercise in "continuity" with Pope Francis, the apostolic exhortation is an ode to the 265th Successor of Peter while at the same time a further indicator of the priorities of the 266th. The title "Dilexi Te" (I have loved you) -- taken from an expression of Christ's love for his people in Rv 3:9 -- positions the text as complementary to Pope Francis' fourth and final encyclical letter "Dilexit Nos" (He has loved us), promulgated in 2024. And in the new text, Leo renews Francis' invitation to "all Christians [to] come to appreciate the close connection between Christ's love and his summons to care for the poor."

At the same time, at about 21,000 words, "Dilexi Te" in many ways further manifests Pope Leo's desire to bring unity to a fractured church. "I would like that our first great desire be for a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world," Leo said in his homily at the Mass inaugurating his Petrine ministry.

This unity can be found only in conformity to Christ, and conformity to Christ means loving the least among us, as Pope Leo points out when he writes, "Love for the Lord … is one with love for the poor." This succinct thesis -- and even the topic itself -- sets up the rest of the document as both an invitation to examine consciences and as a framework for growing in unity with Christ and the church.

Employing what has emerged as characteristically robust Christological underpinnings to support his ecclesial vision -- with copious references to Scripture and patristic sources, and a generous survey of historical figures who took seriously the Lord's words on the topic -- Pope Leo squarely situates the love and care due to the poor within the church's tradition.

"Dilexi Te" not only draws from the magisterium of Pope Francis, but also several other of Pope Leo's predecessors, particularly Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. And in relying on the witness of so many saints and founders of movements -- from the familiar St. Francis of Assisi to the lesser-known St. Joseph Calasanz -- Leo illustrates the longstanding tradition in the church for taking seriously, in no divisive or polarizing way, faith's insistence to care for those in poverty. And Leo does not focus exclusively on material poverty, but also on poverty in all of its forms, such as in the realms of health care, migration, education and issues pertaining to human liberty (the imprisoned).

Building upon this foundation, Leo continues to cement the care for the poor as intrinsic to the church's mission by providing intelligent commentary to comprehend how such themes were portrayed in the early church through to the present day. The text makes implicitly clear that care for the poor should be a unifying issue, as it lies at the heart of orthodoxy and holiness.

To this end, interestingly, Pope Leo positively includes in the exhortation an extended quote from a document produced by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith -- Instruction on Certain Aspects of the "Theology of Liberation" -- which Leo describes as "a document that was not initially well received by everyone," in subtle reference to that text's intention to preserve the best of the proposals of Latin American liberation theology while also keeping in doctrinal check many of its perhaps less doctrinally sound champions.

An essential, yet difficult, aspect of effecting unity in the church -- itself willed by Christ (see Jn 17:21) -- will be Pope Leo's treatment of Pope Francis' legacy. There is no denying that the church Leo now leads is much more divided and polarized than the church inherited by his predecessor. For ecclesial unity to be nurtured, particularly after a pontificate that was content to let divisions simmer, Leo needs to take the best of Francis and situate it squarely within the church's tradition -- something Francis himself often had difficulty doing. Leo must also "thread the needle" as he seeks common ground between the church's factions and looks for ways to build consensus and communion. From this perspective alone, and to Leo's great credit, it appears "Dilexi Te" quite adroitly achieves these goals.

While around 40% of the exhortation's quotes footnote Pope Francis, those which are cited warrant little controversy. And while it seems almost impossible for the pope to say anything in modern times without causing some kind of reaction, the exhortation shouldn't present intellectual concerns for those who embrace the totality of the church's social doctrine. To those shaped more by politics, economics or ideologies, however, which might "lead to gross generalizations and mistaken conclusions" on the poor, Leo warns of "the need to go back and re-read the Gospel, lest we risk replacing it with the wisdom of this world."

An Augustinian friar and priest, Pope Leo has often quoted St. Augustine of Hippo -- and "Dilexi Te" is no exception. The section on Augustine is perhaps one of the document's most original as it considers care for the poor in light of Augustine's gift to elucidate and effect ecclesial unity.

Closer consideration of what Leo has to say about his beloved saint, whom he describes as "a vigilant pastor and theologian of rare insight," is warranted -- for therein might exist some clues for what lies ahead on Leo's intended path toward unity. To this end, consider that, amid the church's many contemporary divisions and challenges, Leo writes: "Today, fidelity to Augustine's teachings requires not only the study of his works, but also a readiness to live radically his call to conversion." "Dilexi Te," a document written from the heart of the church, with a style that encourages communion and with a command to love the poor as Christ did, calls each of us to conformity with Christ – that is, to holiness.

More than all else, attentiveness to Leo's reflections on St. Augustine, that credible minister of unity and father of the church, might give clearer insight into where he is guiding the church. Leo's exhortation echoes what Augustine taught: "The Church consists of all those who are in harmony with their brothers and sisters and who love their neighbor." But even more than inviting the church to live that reality, there might not be anything more timely and needed from a pope than to model it.