My Thoughts on Dilexi te

Dilexi te is an apostolic exhortation (NOT an encyclical) begun by Pope Francis and finished by Pope Leo XIV:

2....I share the desire of my beloved predecessor that all Christians come to appreciate the close connection between Christ’s love and his summons to care for the poor....

Chapter One A Few Essential Words

This chapter has sub-sections on Saint Francis [of Assisi], the Cry of the Poor, and Ideological Preferences:

7....I am convinced that the preferential choice for the poor is a source of extraordinary renewal both for the Church and for society, if we can only set ourselves free of our self-centeredness and open our ears to their cry.

9....there are many forms of poverty: the poverty of those who lack material means of subsistence, the poverty of those who are socially marginalized and lack the means to give voice to their dignity and abilities, moral and spiritual poverty, cultural poverty, the poverty of those who find themselves in a condition of personal or social weakness or fragility, the poverty of those who have no rights, no space, no freedom.

12....“the organization of societies worldwide is still far from reflecting clearly that women possess the same dignity and identical rights as men. We say one thing with our words, but our decisions and reality tell another story,”[9] especially if we consider the numbers of women who are in fact destitute.

13....The claim that the modern world has reduced poverty is made by measuring poverty with criteria from the past that do not correspond to present-day realities....

Chapter Two God Chooses the Poor

This chapter has sub-sections on the Choice of the Poor, Jesus - the Poor Messiah, and Mercy towards the Poor in the Bible:

16....God has a special place in his heart for those who are discriminated against and oppressed, and he asks us, his Church, to make a decisive and radical choice in favor of the weakest.

18. The Old Testament history of God’s preferential love for the poor and his readiness to hear their cry — to which I have briefly alluded — comes to fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth....

Chapter Three A Church for the Poor

Set in an historical survey, this chapter has sub-sections on a Church for the Poor, True Riches of the Church, the Fathers of the Church and the Poor, St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, Care of the Sick, Freeing Prisoners, Witnesses of Evangelical Poverty, the Church and the Education of the Poor, Accompanying Migrants, At the Side of the Least Among Us, and Popular Movements:

35. Three days after his election, my predecessor expressed to the representatives of the media his desire that care and attention for the poor be more clearly present in the Church....

Chapter Four A History That Continues

This chapter has sub-sections on the Century of the Church's Social Doctrine, Structures of Sin that Create Poverty & Extreme Inequality, and the Poor as Subjects, largely focused on the last pontificate

83. The Church’s Magisterium in the past 150 years [Note: Rerum Novarum is usually cited as the starting point for modern Catholic Social Teaching, but that seems somewhat arbitrary.] is a veritable treasury of significant teachings concerning the poor....

The Vatican's Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church predates the last pontificate and seems more integrative, particularly in its emphases on the sanctity of each human life from its very first moment and the sanctity of each human family (i.e., mom, dad, and the kids).

Dilexi te contains a call to adapt simple lifestyles (Bravo ??!) that echoes the magnificent words of Saint Teresa of Calcutta - "Live simply so that others may simply live":

102....Growing up in precarious circumstances, learning to survive in the most adverse conditions, trusting in God with the assurance that no one else takes them seriously, and helping one another in the darkest moments, the poor have learned many things that they keep hidden in their hearts. Those of us who have not had similar experiences of living this way certainly have much to gain from the source of wisdom that is the experience of the poor. Only by relating our complaints to their sufferings and privations can we experience a reproof that can challenge us to simplify our lives.

Chapter Five A Constant Challenge

This chapter has sub-sections on the Good Samaritan - Once Again, an Inescapable Challenge for the Church Today, and Almsgiving Today,

115. I would like to close by saying something about almsgiving, which nowadays is not looked upon favorably even among believers. Not only is it rarely practiced, but it is even at times disparaged. [Huh???] Let me state once again that the most important way to help the disadvantaged is to assist them in finding a good job... almsgiving remains, for the time being, a necessary means of contact, encounter and empathy with those less fortunate.

My Closing Thoughts

Right now, our hierarchy has a credibility problem - largely of its own making! Our bishops often strike me as listening to the wrong voices. "Synodality" - in practice - can seem like Rehobam listening to his inexperienced buddies, instead of the sage advice of his dad Solomon's advisors (cf, 1 Kings 12).

Our world needs the sage wisdom of authentic, comprehensive Catholic teaching. Holy Father:

Clearly defend the sanctity of human life.
Clearly defend the sanctity of marriage/family.

Revoke Fiducia Supplicans &
clearly condemn efforts to equate same sex couples with Holy Matrimony.
Apologize for the bizarre favoritism shown toward Jesuit Father James Martin.

Replace Cardinal "Tucho" Fernandez at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Demand that all Catholic institutions operate in unmistakably Catholic manners.
Apologize for Pope Francis’ disastrous treaty with Communist China.
Apologize for the Church's effectively ignoring Nigerian Catholics being slaughtered by Islamists.
Apologize that former Jesuit [and alleged artist] Marko Rupnik has not been defrocked.
Apologize for Pope Francis seemingly throwing "caution to the wind" and secure protections against incorrect declarations of marital nullity.
Reverse Pope Francis' suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass.