Dilexi Te: I Have Loved You
- Theme Love for the poor
- Signed 4 October 2025, St Francis of Assisi
- Length 121 paragraphs, 5 chapters
“There is an inseparable bond between our faith and the poor.”Dilexi Te 36
Pope Francis was preparing this text in the last months of his life. Pope Leo XIV made it his own, added his reflections and gave it to the Church as the first major teaching of his pontificate.
Its message is simple. We cannot separate love for Christ from love for the poor, because Christ continues to meet us in them. God's care for the poor runs through the whole Bible, and the Church has lived it for two thousand years.
- God chooses the poor. Preferring them excludes no one. It shows us God's own compassion.
- Poverty is not usually a fault or a choice. The Pope rejects the view that blames the poor for it.
- Charity and justice go together. We help the person in front of us and we also work on the causes of poverty.
- The poor teach us. They are people to learn from, and not only people to help.
- Keep giving alms. Dignified work is the best help, yet a personal gift still matters, because it brings us face to face with another person.
Open a chapter for its main points in plain words. Numbers are the document's paragraphs, so you can follow along in the full text.
Introduction and Chapter 1: A Few Essential Words 1–15
The title comes from Christ's words in Revelation 3:9. The anointing at Bethany shows that small gestures of love matter, and St Francis of Assisi shows how meeting the poor can convert a heart (4–7).
God hears the cry of the oppressed, as in the Exodus. Poverty has many faces: material, social, moral and cultural, and the loss of rights or freedom (8–9). New kinds of poverty keep appearing, and women are especially vulnerable (10–12). The poor are not poor by chance or by choice, and thinking that blames them is rejected (13–15).
Chapter 2: God Chooses the Poor 16–34
The Old Testament shows God freeing the poor, and the prophets call worship empty when the weak are oppressed (17). Jesus was born poor, worked with his hands and was rejected. He rejected the idea that poverty and sickness are punishment for sin (18–22).
Love of God and love of neighbour cannot be separated. Matthew 25 and the Letter of James are not to be softened (24–31). The first Christians cared for widows and took up collections for poor communities (32–34).
Chapter 3: A Church for the Poor 35–81
This is the heart of the document: two thousand years of the Church's love, told through her saints.
Fathers of the Church (37–48)
St Lawrence called the poor the Church's treasure. St John Chrysostom joined honour for Christ in the Eucharist with honour for him in the poor. St Ambrose and St Augustine follow.
The sick (49–52)
St Cyprian, St John of God, St Camillus and many women religious.
Monks (53–58)
St Basil built institutions for the poor. St Benedict made hospitality central.
Captives (59–62)
Orders that ransomed slaves, and today's work against trafficking.
Mendicants (63–67)
St Francis, St Clare and St Dominic chose poverty.
Schools (68–72)
St Joseph Calasanz, St John Baptist de La Salle, St John Bosco, and many women's congregations.
Migrants (73–75)
St John Baptist Scalabrini, St Frances Cabrini. Welcome, protect, promote, integrate.
The poorest (76–79)
St Teresa of Calcutta and others: an encounter between equals.
Chapter 4: A History That Continues 82–102
Catholic social teaching, from Rerum Novarum through John XXIII, the Second Vatican Council, St Paul VI, St John Paul II, Benedict XVI and the bishops of Latin America (82–90).
Charity should also reach the causes of poverty. The Pope criticises economic systems that harm people and promises of wealth that never reach the poor, and he speaks of structures of sin (91–97). The poor are subjects with their own culture and faith, and we should let them evangelise us (99–102).
Chapter 5: A Constant Challenge 103–121
Care for the poor is central to the Church's tradition and is more than one ministry among many (103–104). The Good Samaritan asks which character we resemble (105–107). Faith cannot stay private. Excuses such as “only pray” or “leave it to the government” are rejected (112–114).
The chapter ends with almsgiving. It does not replace justice, but it brings us into personal contact and should continue (115–119). Through work, through changing structures or through simple closeness, the poor should hear the words of Jesus: I have loved you (121).
For a parish or family group
- When did meeting a poor person change how I see Christ?
- Do I ever think, even quietly, that the poor are to blame for their poverty? (14)
- In the Good Samaritan, which character am I most often? (105)
- What can our parish learn from the poor, and not only give to them? (102)
Homily seed
Matthew 25:31–46 with Dilexi Te 24–28. The same Lord we receive at the altar waits for us at the door.
This week
Give a gift in person, and learn the person's name. (115–119)
For young people
Choose one saint from Chapter 3 and tell the group how that saint served the poor.