MIAMI \u2014 Pope Leo XIV has issued his first major document since becoming pontiff, continuing a mission started by his predecessor, Pope Francis.<\/p>\n
The new apostolic exhortation, \u201cDilexi te,\u201d centers on compassion for the poor. In it, the pope writes that if the Church truly wants to belong to Christ, it must give the poor a privileged place.<\/p>\n
Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski said the writing lays out Leo\u2019s priorities for his pontificate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is significant because first apostolic exhortations tend to be a putting forth of a strategic plan or the priorities of the pope for his pontificate,\u201d Wenski said.<\/p>\n
Wenski noted that the document doesn\u2019t break new ground but shows continuity with Pope Francis\u2019 teachings.<\/p>\n
In Dilexi te, Leo denounces prejudices that, he says, can lead Christians to neglect their duty to care for the poor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are those who say: \u2018Our task is to pray and teach sound doctrine,\u2019 (and argue) that it is the government\u2019s job to care for (the poor) or that it would be better not to lift them out of their poverty, but simply teach them to work,\u201d the pope wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this document, the pope reminds us that we are called to love and we are called to serve \u2014 and not just with words, but in action,\u201d Wenski said. \u201cHe tells us faith without compassion for the poor would be incomplete.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leo also wrote: \u201cThe Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking. Where the world sees threats, she sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges, and she knows that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Vatican has denied that the pope\u2019s words were influenced by political events in the United States or elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Wenski said the message transcends politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe serve people not because they\u2019re Catholic, but because we\u2019re Catholic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Leo argues that the Church often overlooks the spiritual needs of the poor \u2014 which, he says, are even more important than their financial needs \u2014 a theme echoing the message of Pope Francis, and one he clearly intends to champion in his own papacy.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 Pope Leo XIV has issued his first major document since becoming pontiff, continuing a mission started…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":{"0":"post-287","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hialeah","8":"tag-hialeah","9":"tag-hialeah-headlines","10":"tag-hialeah-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}