On October 9, Pope Leo XIV released Dilexi te, his first magisterial document. The Pontiff, who holds American and Peruvian citizenship, chose the format of an Apostolic Exhortation rather than the more binding form of an Encyclical. This decision reflects a pastoral and dialogical style: while an encyclical lays out doctrinal teachings, an exhortation invites paths of reflection and action, allowing greater room for personal discernment and reception.
A choice that was, in a certain sense, “mandatory” for Pope Leo—if not formally, then at least morally—given his sense of indebtedness to Pope Francis on several fronts. As noted in our previous analyses, Leo shares Francis’s overall vision of the Church, though not his method.
Indeed, as Pope Leo himself explains in paragraph 3 of Dilexi te, “I am happy to make this document my own—adding some reflections—and to issue it at the beginning of my own pontificate, since I share the desire of my beloved predecessor that all Christians come to appreciate the close connection between Christ’s love and his summons to care for the poor.”
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