Leo's first official text

Pope Leo XIV has given the church the first official text of his pontificate's magisterium, "Dilexi Te," an apostolic exhortation addressed "to all Christians on love for the poor."

While the text is explicitly addressing the reasons why love and care for the poor are central to the faith, there are also some clues that can help us sharpen our perspective of how Pope Leo is shepherding the church in our day.

When Pope John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council, the world was terribly divided. He wanted the council to bring its own internal unity to the fore, as a model to overcome the global strife plaguing the world in the aftermath of two world wars. The church can only be a leaven to society, however, if we are faithful to the unity Christ willed for us the night before he died to set us free.

But, as Pope Leo became the church's universal shepherd earlier this year, the church finds itself divided more than in recent memory -- carrying with it the burden of grave consequences. "Dilexi Te" manifests both Pope Leo's recognition that we need to grow in unity and subtly illustrates a means to bring such unity to a fractured church, something he has spoken of from the earliest days of his pontificate.

Important to remember as Catholics endlessly bicker on social media, or as even cardinals find ease in publicly questioning the church's teaching, or when hearing bishops are at odds with their faithful over liturgical preferences. All this, of course, cannot endure. In examining how we practice the faith, vis-à-vis our love and concern for the poor as the exhortation intends, Pope Leo warns: "Either we regain our moral and spiritual dignity or we fall into a cesspool" (No. 95).

For ecclesial unity to be nurtured, especially as divisions fermented over the last decade, Pope Leo provides in "Dilexi Te" a means for Catholics to find common ground, offering a concrete opportunity to foster consensus, communion and authenticity. In it we find, perhaps, Pope Leo is offering the church an opportunity to hit the reset button, issuing an invitation for the church to stop and reprioritize ourselves, to see the difference Christ makes in our lives and must lead us to make a difference in the world. As St. Paul famously taught, "the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor 13:13).

A great deal of the in-fighting among Catholics today, especially in the United States, is due to a lopsided ordering of priorities and allegiances. And to all those shaped more by politics, economics or ideologies -- all of which might "lead to gross generalizations and mistaken conclusions" regarding the poor -- Pope Leo warns of "the need to go back and re-read the Gospel, lest we risk replacing it with the wisdom of this world" (No. 15).

In situating Christian love for the poor in a robust Christology ("Love for the Lord … is one with love for the poor," No. 5), in thoroughly collating the church's tradition on care for the poor in the lives of some truly remarkable saints and papal predecessors, and in underscoring the importance of love for the poor as intrinsic to the church's mission and call to holiness, Pope Leo is giving us an occasion to live the wisdom expressed by Pope John XXIII: to strive for "that which unites rather than that which divides." In every line of his exhortation, Pope Leo is reminding us how "charity has the power to change reality" (No. 91).

Do yourself a favor and read every word of the text. As you do, and as you reflect upon it as an examination of conscience regarding our individual and collective care for the poor, don't miss what appears to be a hidden roadmap for how Pope Leo is gently working to unify a fragmented church.