On the same day that Pope Leo XIV celebrates the Eucharist in front of St. Peter’s with the tens of thousands who have gathered for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life, the Vatican officially released the Holy Father’s first Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te (Rev 3:9). The exhortation is the successor and companion to Dilexit Nos, the fourth and final encyclical from Pope Francis “On the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ”. Reading the exhortation, it become clear why the Holy Father signed the document five days prior on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi: Dilexi Te leans heavily into the Franciscan framework of care for the poor and the document continually cites examples of Pope Francis’ commitment to the poor.

Many of the themes are directly taken from Dilexit Nos, Evangelii Gaudium and Fratelli Tutti, with Pope Leo providing updated context to the needs of naming the sources of poverty and inequality, working towards liberation and overcoming the culture of exclusion, and differentiating between economic growth that frees and that which imprisons. “The commitment to the poor and to removing the social and structural causes of poverty has gained importance in recent decades, but it remains insufficient. This is also the case because our societies often favor criteria for orienting life and politics that are marked by numerous inequalities. As a result, the old forms of poverty that we have become aware of and are trying to combat are being joined by new ones, sometimes more subtle and dangerous.” (Dilexi Te, SS10)

The Society of Jesus welcomes the Holy Father’s first exhortation at a time when it is evaluating the continuing evolution of its Universal Apostolic Preferences, a 10-year mission given to the Society of Jesus by Pope Francis in 2019. Almost all of the same themes and encouragements in Dilexi Te are found in the 2^nd Preference of the UAPs, “Walking with the Excluded” which urges Jesuits to “walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice”.

The release of the exhortation comes at an opportune time for the Society of Jesus. In little more than a week, all the Major Superiors of the Society of Jesus, more than 100 in total, will gather at the Jesuit Curia in Rome for the third “Meeting of Major Superiors” to discuss the needs of the modern Church, and how the Society of Jesus can best serve those needs. Dilexi Te will most definitely be part of that discussion.