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Dilexi Te calls out Christians who "find it easier to turn a blind eye to the poor," justifying their inaction by reducing faith to prayer and teaching "sound doctrine," or by invoking "pseudo-scientific data" to claim that "a free market economy will automatically solve the problem of poverty. While no agenda for the pope's trip to Lebanon was announced, the pope is expected to meet with both government officials and faith leaders, including representatives of the country's Maronite Catholic community which forms the largest share of Lebanon's Christian population. The ongoing war in Gaza is likely to cast a shadow over the pope's visit to Lebanon, which has faced repeated cross-border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed political and militant group that operates in the country.
Apostolic exhortation condemns complacency within the ranks of the church
Pope Leo XIV bluntly called out inequality and indifference to the plight of the poor in the first major teaching document of his pontificate.
"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," the pope wrote. "We must not let our guard down when it comes to poverty."
Released on Oct. 9, the apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te ("I Have Loved You") sets the tone for Leo's pontificate with a passionate call for solidarity with those on society's margins and calling charitable works "the burning heart of the Church's mission."
Leo signed the document on Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
The pope noted that the exhortation - a teaching document meant to have a more pastoral tone than the doctrinal weight of an encyclical - had been in the works in the final months of Pope Francis' life. "I am happy to make this document my own," Leo wrote in the document, explaining that he added his own reflections, but still heavily quoted from his predecessor - 57 times in the document's 130 citations - in a clear sign of continuity.
While the document's pastoral tone urges a renewed spiritual concern for the marginalized, it also carries sharp edges. For example, it denounces people who internalize indifference by placing their faith in the free market instead of allowing themselves to be consumed by compassion for their neighbor.
Dilexi Te calls out Christians who "find it easier to turn a blind eye to the poor," justifying their inaction by reducing faith to prayer and teaching "sound doctrine," or by invoking "pseudo-scientific data" to claim that "a free market economy will automatically solve the problem of poverty."
"There is no shortage of theories attempting to justify the present state of affairs or to explain that economic thinking requires us to wait for invisible market forces to resolve everything," Leo wrote. "Nevertheless, the dignity of every human person must be respected today, not tomorrow, and the extreme poverty of all those to whom this dignity is denied should constantly weigh upon our consciences."
Nicaea, to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. While he is there, he is expected to meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians, in what is expected to be a major sign of Catholic-Orthodox dialogue.
The full itinerary for the trip was not announced.
A papal trip to Turkey was openly discussed by Pope Francis prior to his death to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea - the first ecumenical council in Christian history. The gathering, convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 325, rejected the heresy that held Jesus was a being created by God the Father and laid the groundwork for the Nicene Creed.
Leo's likely meeting with Bartholomew will be the third between the two leaders. The patriarch attended Leo's inauguration Mass in St. Peter's Square on May 18 and they met privately afterward; the two met again on May 30 and discussed the trip to Turkey.
After Francis' death, Bartholomew expressed his hope that he and the late pope's successor would "go together to Nicaea to send a message of unity, love, brotherhood, and shared path toward the future of Christianity."
In a meeting with a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in June, Leo affirmed his commitment to "restore full visible communion between our churches."
While no agenda for the pope's trip to Lebanon was announced, the pope is expected to meet with both government officials and faith leaders, including representatives of the country's Maronite Catholic community which forms the largest share of Lebanon's Christian population.
Christians make up an estimated 30% of Lebanon's citizens, and the country's political structure reserves key offices by religious affiliation: the presidency for a Maronite Christian, the prime minister's post for a Sunni Muslim and the speakership of parliament for a Shiite Muslim.
The Vatican had long been expected to announce the Turkey visit, but the Lebanon leg was confirmed only with the Oct. 7 statement. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with Leo at the Vatican in June and formally invited the pope to visit.
The dual visit reflects the unity and dialogue that have already come to define Leo's papacy.
Francis had long expressed his desire to visit Lebanon, hailing the nation as an example of religious pluralism.
The ongoing war in Gaza is likely to cast a shadow over the pope's visit to Lebanon, which has faced repeated cross-border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed political and militant group that operates in the country. Israel invaded southern Lebanon in October 2024 in an offensive that left HeZbollah severely weakened and is estimated to have displaced more than 1 million people.
That Leo's first trip will be to the Muslim world is significant as a sign of global outreach and casts him as a potential bridge - builder, even though it was a trip largely determined by his predecessor.
Francis last traveled to Turkey in 2014, meeting both Bartholomew and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. That visit built on decades of papal engagement with the region: Paul VI was the first pope to visit Turkey in 1967, John Paul II followed in 1979 and Benedict XVI made his first trip to the Muslim world there in 2006.
Then, Benedict was met with protests for comments he made at a lecture at the University of Regensburg in Bavaria just weeks before, where he quoted a 14thcentury Byzantine emperor who said that the prophet Muhammad had brought about "things only evil and inhuman."
Benedict was the last pope to visit Lebanon in 2012.
Leo's journey will come amid a crowded Vatican calendar leading up to his first Advent as pope and the close of the Holy Year 2025, which has already limited opportunities for papal travel. His visit to the sites of early Christian history - and to a region still marked by war, migration and interreligious tension - could set the tone for his pontificate's global outreach.
The National Catholic Reporter's Rome Bureau is made possible in part by the generosity of Joan and Bob McGrath.
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