Church Document
Dilexi Te
Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Leo XIV (2025)
The first apostolic exhortation of Pope Leo XIV, addressed to all Christians on love for the poor and given on the memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi in the first year of his pontificate. Leo XIV explains that Pope Francis had been preparing a document on the Church's care for the poor in the last months of his life, under this title taken from the Book of Revelation, and that he makes it his own with added reflections. Its five chapters — a few essential words, God chooses the poor, a Church for the poor, a history that continues, and a constant challenge — join the love of Christ's heart to the summons to serve the poor as a path of holiness.
Key themes
Love for the poor
God's preferential love for the little ones
A Church that is poor and for the poor
The Church's history of charity
Care for the poor as a path of holiness
Document type
Apostolic exhortation
Issuing authority
Pope Leo XIV
Issued date
Related documents
- dilexit-nos
- evangelii-gaudium
- fratelli-tutti
