Pope Leo XIV affirms that the Church cannot exist without the poor

We cannot be Catholic without the poor: this conviction runs through the entire exhortation “Dilexi te”, begun by Francis and completed by his successor. Throughout the Bible and the history of Catholicism, the Pope repeats it forcefully: in the relationship with the most disadvantaged, Catholic identity, the faith of the Church and obedience to Christ are at stake – nothing less! Because “contact with those who have neither power nor greatness is a fundamental way of encountering the Lord of history” (§ 5).

Francis’s emphasis on “existential peripheries” was therefore not a parenthesis. Following him, Léon echoes the Churches of the “Global South”, such as that of Peru where he was bishop: poverty is not inevitable, it results from an unjust organization of society which is rooted in our selfishness. This worldview prevents us from recognizing in the poor an experience and creativity “indispensable to the Church and to humanity” (§ 82).

Concern for unity

This voice of the continuing tradition of the Church is blurred today. On the one hand, Leo On the other hand, he solemnly alerts Catholics for whom “spiritual attention to the poor is called into question by certain prejudices” (§ 114).

How can we not see this as an allusion to the judgment passed on migrants in certain Christian circles? The American Vice President, J.-D. Vance, cited Saint Augustine to justify measures against foreigners. The first quotation of this figure of the Church by Leo will convince of the opposite: “You pay attention to your brothers to know if they need anything, but if Christ dwells in you, you also give to strangers” (§ 44).

Sometimes rounding off the angles of his predecessor, Pope Leo reveals his concern for unity, which embraces what tends to oppose. From the peripheries of Peru to the Vatican, he wants to situate all his experience within the tradition of the Church. “Dilexi te” marks a reminder to the center, and to the heart: the relationship with the poor is the oldest touchstone of fidelity to Christ.