Pope Leo highlights poor and marginalised in first-ever text

In the first major publication of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV on Thursday called for the poor and marginalised, including migrants, to be at the center of the Catholic Church's mission.

In the Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te ("I have loved you" in Latin), the US pope warns against the "growth of a wealthy elite, living in a bubble of comfort and luxury" and a culture "that discards others without even realising it."

He expressed a particular message for Christians "shaped by secular ideologies" who dismiss or ridicule charitable works, "as if they were an obsession on the part of a few and not the burning heart of the Church's mission."

The document discusses a broad perspective of poverty, addressing those with no money or food to those who are socially marginalised, including women facing violence and migrants.

"The Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking. Where the world sees threats, she sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges," it said.

The statement, likely a subtle criticism of United States President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, came after Leo criticised the "inhuman treatment" of immigrants in the US last month.

Leo recalled the photo of Alan Kurdi, the Syrian Kurdish toddler whose body washed up on a Turkish beach in 2015 from drowning, becoming a symbol of the migrant’s struggle.

"Unfortunately, apart from some momentary outcry, similar events are becoming increasingly irrelevant and seen as marginal news items," he wrote.

'Fall into a cesspool'

With the text and its 121 points, the US pontiff aligned himself on the same path as his Argentine predecessor Pope Francis, who regularly spoke on social issues as well as condemned Trump's migration policy.

The Vatican said the document was first written by Francis, the Buenos Aires-born pontiff died in April after serving as Catholic leader for 12 years, but it was not mentioned specifically who wrote what.

"It's 100 percent Francis and 100 percent Leo," joked Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny at a Vatican press conference.

Leo, whose birth name is Robert Francis Prevost, spent twenty years in Peru as a missionary with the Augustinian order before becoming head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics in May.

The document emphasises that fighting poverty and respecting marginalised communities are fundamental values in Christianity throughout history.

It also challenges the current economic system.

"We need to be increasingly committed to resolving the structural causes of poverty," Leo wrote, denouncing "the dictatorship of an economy that kills."

He asked: "Are those born with fewer opportunities of lesser value as human beings? Should they limit themselves merely to surviving?

"The worth of our societies, and our own future, depends on the answers we give to these questions. Either we regain our moral and spiritual dignity or we fall into a cesspool."

In 2024, nearly 700 million people, or 8.5 percent of the global population, survived on less than US$2.15 a day, according to the World Bank. Efforts on tackling poverty stalled with the coronavirus crisis in 2020.

– TIMES/AFP