Photograph © Vatican Media
It is wonderful to be able to share some reflections on Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te — “I have loved you.”
In Dilexi Te, the Holy Father places the Gospel at the heart of the document and reminds us of our Christian mandate to love the poorest of our sisters and brothers and that this love is part of the “burning heart of the Church’s mission” [15].
Central to Dilexi Te is the constant reminder to us of Our Lord’s teaching that to love Him is to love the poor: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”.
In his exhortation, Pope Leo tells us that from the moment of his birth, Jesus was born in poverty, in a displaced family who, soon after, would have to flee into Egypt as refugees to escape being killed. Indeed, in his life, we are told Jesus “experienced the same exclusion that is the lot of the poor and the outcast of society… He presented himself to the world not only as a poor Messiah, but also as the Messiah of and for the poor”. [19]
Dilexi Te is a document for all of the Christian faithful, which calls us to see our sisters and brothers living in poverty, the lonely, and the excluded, not as objects of charity but living icons of Christ’s presence and a chance to encounter him in our world today.
In the document, Pope Leo calls us to return to the spirit of the early Christian community, where love for the poorest was one of the central measures of faith, and tells us the Church’s history is a story of love made manifest.
Above all, Pope Leo’s words are an encouragement to see the world through the loving eyes of Christ and to see Christ with our own eyes here in our world, in the faces of the poorest and marginalised of our sisters and brothers. Dilexi Te calls us to not only see the Lord in the faces of the least of our brethren, but to respond to Him with love.
Christian love compels us to act. Here in the Diocese of Plymouth, we are blessed to have a community of faith that constantly acts with love for those in need through its amazing charities like Caritas, Catholic Children’s Society, SVP, Stella Maris, CAFOD and the many local charities our parishes and schools support day in and day out; supporting children and families in need, to welcome refugees and asylum seekers, to reach out to the elderly and isolated, to accompany the homeless, to speak up for the marginalised, for justice, and to care for our common home.
Each of these missions is a living expression of Dilexi Te. Every volunteer who visits a lonely neighbour, every parish that opens its doors to a family in hardship, every prayer for peace and dignity adds another thread to the tapestry of God’s love woven through our diocese.
Let us, then, return to the Gospel. Let us listen to the cry of the poor as the early Christians did. And let us answer that cry through prayer, through service, and through our shared commitment with Caritas Diocese of Plymouth. In doing so, we will rediscover the joy of the Gospel — and “the burning heart of the Church”.
To help the diocese reflect on this historic apostolic exhortation, Caritas and CAFOD have arranged a diocesan day at Buckfast Abbey Conference Centre on 21st February 2026. Join us to go deeper into Dilexi Te with our great panel of experts including:
- Raymond Friel OBE, CSAN Chief Executive Officer,
- Christine Allen, CAFOD Director
- Rev. Dr. Richard Finn OP, Faculties of Classics and Theology/Religion, University of Oxford.
Click here to register for the event.
Do take the time to read Dilexi Te it is truly inspirational. To help you the Vatican’s Dicastery for Integral Human Development has produced a synthesis document and CAFOD has also produced Questions and Answers article online.