Earlier this month, the Vatican released Pope Leo XIV’s first Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te which translates to ‘I have loved you’.

An Apostolic Exhortation is a teaching document from the pope, which often aims to encourage a particular virtue or activity.

We spoke with archdiocesan priest Monsignor Peter Fleetwood, currently lecturing in philosophy, moral theology, and pastoral theology at the Pontifical Beda College seminary in Rome, to hear his reflections on this significant document.

Mgr. Peter said: “A lot of people have been waiting to see how Pope Leo will begin his official teaching. This came just four months since his election, but of course summer has intervened.

“I looked up when Pope Francis released his, this was after three months but there wasn’t a summer in between so in comparison, Pope Leo’s is relatively quick.”

Mgr. Peter welcomed similarities between Pope Leo and Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation. He added: “They have both done something very similar, in picking up documents their predecessor had started and adding some thoughts of their own. I think that shows continuity, but also real personal respect”

Due to his choice of the name Leo, it was widely anticipated that Pope Leo would align himself with the legacy of Leo XIII, who laid the foundations of the Church’s social teaching. Having served as a missionary in Peru for many years, it was also expected that his papacy would reflect strong themes of poverty, social justice, and equality.

Mgr Peter added: “Everyone was interested in what he was going to say regarding social teaching. “The title I have loved you is from a paragraph in the Book of Revelation addressed to a small, struggling community of believers and is meant to encourage people experiencing any kind of poverty or oppression today to persevere, whatever challenges they face.

“Pope Francis asked us never to walk past poor people in the street, but to look them in the eye, speak to them and even shake their hand; it seems to be exactly the way Pope Leo would like us to behave, too.”

According to Mgr Peter, the most striking part of the document are points 90-98 where Pope Leo talks about the structures of sin that create poverty and extreme inequality.

He added, “In the 1980s there was much concern about the theology of liberation. People seemed to have the idea that priests in Latin America and elsewhere were involved in violent revolution and encouraging others to do the same, but that was rarely, if ever, the case. They did ask awkward questions, though, about the sinful social structures that kept people poor. The official reaction was to say that it was the individuals who created those structures who had sinned. How could a structure be sinful?

“Pope Leo has returned to this aspect of poverty and insists that some structures are, indeed, sinful. Unfortunately, huge gaps between rich and poor persist, and we are challenged to do what we can to change that. Pope Leo shares Pope Benedict’s view that it is not good to allow anyone to be excluded from the table; all are welcome and have a right to be there.

“Pope Leo quotes Mother Teresa’s strong statement that we should look at poor people not with pity but with respect. They have a part to play in sorting out what needs to change.

In the concluding section of Dilexi te, Pope Leo focuses on almsgiving today and encourages Christians to not abandon it saying: ‘It can be done in different ways, and surely more effectively, but it must continue to be done. It is always better at least to do something rather than nothing.’

Mgr. Peter hopes that the document will become known across the archdiocese, saying: “Not everyone copes well with Papal documents, so perhaps those people who do read it and get something out of it will find ways of passing that on to others. It is worth the effort!”

Pope Leo’s Dilexi te can be read in full here.