The Spirituality of Dilexi Te | James Hanvey, SJ
Fr James Hanvey, SJ, the Secretary for the Service of Faith, shares deep insights on Pope Leo XIV’s first Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te. This is more than a discussion of a papal document; it’s an exploration of the radical Christian spirituality at its heart.
Fr Hanvey stresses that the love for the poor is not a side project or a commendable policy – it is the key dimension of our entire mission. This love is what truly enables us to imitate Jesus, poor and humble, making our actions a direct reflection of Christ’s own life and values.
The Society of Jesus has made this focus central through the second Universal Apostolic Preference: Walking with the Excluded. This video explains why this Preference is an absolutely integral part of the Jesuit mission and charism, and a vital call to the whole Church.
Fr Hanvey dives into the profound shift in perspective that underpins true Christian service: the movement from seeing a person as a mere object of our charity to recognizing them as a full subject in their own right.
This shift acknowledges that every person has a dignity that needs to be respected and a soul that needs to be nourished, just as much as their body. It is about fostering an agency that needs to be given the means to create and thrive. While this work often takes practical forms – social, political, and economic – Fr Hanvey explains that it is fundamentally the law of grace.
As he puts it, “Whenever Christ encounters us he never treats us like an object but always as a subject, a person, to whom he wishes to give the Kingdom.” This spiritual principle transforms how we approach justice, service, and evangelization.
Related Posts:
For ten years, MAG+S Timor-Leste has been quietly accompanying young people. In our small community shaped by friendship, prayer, and service, many young people have encountered the richness of Ignatian spirituality and discovered a deeper relationship with God...
For eight decades, the Hogar Virgen de los Dolores (HVD) has served Venezuela’s most vulnerable children, building a legacy rooted in the Jesuit commitment to education and social justice. What began as an apostolic initiative has now evolved into a model of education...
Pope Leo XIV dedicates his June prayer intention to the values of sports, “to build communion and fraternity in history”. He invites us to pray that sports might be a path of peace, encounter, and dialogue between cultures, promoting respect, solidarity, and the spirit of overcoming limits.
If we believe that human dignity for all is the greatest common good, then how shall we guide the development of technologies that may ignore or discard that dignity? This is the question that forms the foundation of Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), the first encyclical...
One of the Universal Apostolic Preferences promulgated by Father General in 2019 invites the Apostolic Body of the Society of Jesus to “Walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice”...
The Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat (SJES) of the Society of Jesus has released its 2025 Annual Report, “The Promotion of Justice is Fueled by Hope”. The report details regional milestones at the conference level, the results of global advocacy, and its commitment to the mission of...
