VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV has released his first apostolic exhortation at the Vatican on Thursday morning, reaffirming the legacy of Pope Francis and the aspiration for a “poor Church for the poor.”

On October 9, 2025, at the Vatican Press Office, the apostolic exhortation Dilexi te was officially presented. The press conference was moderated by Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, and featured the participation of two cardinals and two religious dedicated to serving the poor: Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, almoner of His Holiness; Brother Frédéric-Marie Le Méhauté, provincial of the Franciscan Friars in France and Belgium; and Sister Clémence, Little Sister of Jesus from the Fraternity of the Three Fountains in Rome.

Published today, the exhortation is the first magisterial document of Pope Leo XIV. The press conference highlighted its significance, with the aim of reaffirming the centrality of the poor in the Church’s mission.

Cdl. Czerny summarized the heart of the document by stating that “there will be no social peace as long as the poor are neglected.” With this remark, the prefect underscored that the issue of poverty is not marginal, but central to justice and peace among men, per the Pope’s new document.

In explaining the context of the new document, Cdl. Krajewski recalled Pope Francis’ emphasis on welcoming migrants arriving in Rome – for example, those arriving from Lampedusa – and his initiative to offer the controversial abortion-tainted vaccines “in the Paul VI hall” to the homeless and migrants during the COVID crisis.

“The Church will always recognize the face of Jesus in the poor,” the cardinal said, adding: “Jesus would rise early, and from morning to evening He Himself sought out those in need and healed them immediately, on the same day, without delay … In the Gospel, there is only today.”

Sr. Clémence highlighted – drawing on her missionary experience among communities of “Roma women” in southern Italy – the condition of certain women who, “because of their situation of marginalization,” are “doubly poor,” as Dilexi te describes. The document adds that such women “endure situations of exclusion, mistreatment and violence, since they are frequently less able to defend their rights.” Finally, Br. Le Méhauté reminded the audience that “the poor are our own, and we must act with them, because reality is better understood from the periphery.”

Dilexi te originated as an unfinished project of Pope Francis, which Pope Leo XIV took up and enriched with some personal reflections. As Czerny clarified in response to a question about the contribution of the two pontiffs: “The document remembers Francis, but it is Leo’s. If I had to give percentages, I’d say it is 100% Francis and 100% Leo.”

Pope Leo XIV’s first magisterial text revolves around three central themes. The first thesis affirms the inseparability between faith in Christ and love for the poor: “There can be no room for doubt or for explanations which weaken so clear a message,” writes the Pope.

The second thesis asserts the “preferential option on the part of God for the poor, an expression that arose in the context of the Latin American continent and in particular in the Puebla Assembly, but which has been well integrated into subsequent teachings of the Church.” Christ is presented in the Gospel “not only as a poor Messiah, but also as the Messiah of and for the poor.”

This also leads to the recognition that “the poorest are not only objects of our compassion, but teachers of the Gospel” whose experience – often marked by suffering – contains a wisdom the Church is called to heed, the Pope argues.

The third thesis emphasizes the urgency of addressing the structural causes of poverty, inequality, and social injustice, moving beyond “welfare projects, which meet certain urgent needs” and as such “should be considered merely provisional responses.”

According to Leo XIV – echoing what Bergoglio had previously indicated – poverty stems from unjust economic and political structures that concentrate wealth in the hands of a few, deny “integral human development,” and violate fundamental rights. Such structures constitute a “social sin,” and the so-called “dictatorship of an economy that kills” produces exclusion and marginalization.

For this reason, the solution proposed by the Pontiff operates on three levels. On the socio-political level, the fight against poverty must aim at transforming the deep-rooted causes of injustice. “Unjust structures need to be recognized and eradicated by the force of good, by changing mindsets but also, with the help of science and technology, by developing effective policies for societal change.”

On the ecclesial level, Pope Leo has embraced what Francis often repeated: that the Church must be “poor and for the poor.” The exhortation also recalls the Second Vatican Council and subsequent pontiffs on “universal destination of earthly goods and the social function of property that derives from it.” Finally, the Pope highlights the personal importance, for every Christian, of almsgiving, which St. John Chrysostom defines as “the wing of prayer.”