Dilexi Te - I have loved you
28th Sunday C
Cobh
12 October 2025
My friends,
When a new Pope puts pen to paper officially for the first time, it’s a source of fascination because we are looking for clues as to the mind of the new Chief Shepherd of the Church. We have now gone beyond the appearances of a clearly holy, humble and somewhat reserved man. Though born in the U.S.A. he is a citizen of Peru, where he has spent most of his life as a missionary with his Augustinian Order. The Church in Latin America has had a very different path than the Church in other parts of the rest of the western world. The new Pope, Leo XIV, through his work there, grew and matured, was indeed formed and influenced deeply by his experience there as priest and bishop. By the providence of God, he has been chosen to serve as Bishop of Rome.
Given that personal history, we should not be surprised that his first Apostolic Exhortation, as it is called, reflects so much the spiritual richness and experience of the Church in Latin America. The first indication of that is in his acknowledgment that the outline of this message was in preparation by his predecessor, Pope Francis. In humility he makes it his own as he refined and personalised some of the messages.
It is said of Pope Francis that when he announced that he was elected Pope, a cardinal colleague congratulated him and asked him “not to forget the poor” and he didn’t. This letter from Pope Leo is his personal declaration that he will not, and the Church cannot forget the poor. He goes so far to say the Church is not the Church of Jesus Christ if it does not have at its heart a love for the poor, a love for the poor in all its manifestations, humiliation, rejection, migration, exploitation and discrimination. The spiritual poverty of so many experiences isolation, loneliness and hopelessness are equally to the fore in his reflection.
To deepen our understanding of this call to serve the poor, Pope Leo, beginning with Jesus’ own ministry and preaching, he traces the long and deep tradition of religious communities who have served and cared for the poor across the centuries. He praises those countless “angels of mercy” in all our families, parishes and wider communities who have quietly and discreetly lifted the burdens from those less fortunate on life’s path. ‘Dilexi Te’– I have loved you – is a reflection on how we in the Church of Christ can practically and personally experience the love and providence of God in life and that in being open to this amazing grace, guide, support and encourage one another.
No doubt there will be economists and even some theologians who may not be pleases with Pope Leo reinforcing this element of the mission of the Church. The Church is not an N.G.O. – a non-governmental charity – it doesn’t wish to be, yet it cannot ignore the pain and deprivation that generates the ‘cry of the poor.’ The ‘cry of the earth’ is no less piercing because the poor are its first victims.
This message from Pope Leo is very significant for the Church at this juncture in its history. The Church under his leadership faces great challenges – from indifference in the developed world, to persecution and death in others. May the Grace and strength of his missionary heart enable him to be a clear and strong voice to the entire international community.
