10/21/2025
This week, the Vatican released the document entitled “I Have Loved You,” which Pope Francis had begun to write in his final months but never finished. Pope Leo credited Francis with the text, cited him repeatedly, but said he had made the document his own and signed it
“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.
Thus, in a world where the poor are increasingly numerous, we paradoxically see the growth of a wealthy elite, living in a bubble of comfort and luxury, almost in another world compared to ordinary people
Love for the poor—whatever the form their poverty may take—is the evangelical hallmark of a Church faithful to the heart of God. 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.
The Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking. Where the world sees threats, she sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges.
The fact that some dismiss or ridicule charitable works, as if they were an obsession on the part of a few and not the burning heart of the church’s mission, convinces me of the need to go back and reread the Gospel, lest we risk replacing it with the wisdom of this world.”
