Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te, places the poor at the very heart of the Church’s mission, continuing and deepening the vision of Pope Francis.
In this video, I share my first impressions of the document, unpacking its key themes and showing how it connects with centuries of Catholic teaching and tradition. We’ll explore how Dilexi Te builds on the insights of previous popes, the influence of Latin American theology, and the ancient tradition of the Church’s love for the poor.
We’ll also look at two often-overlooked principles of Catholic Social Teaching — “integral human development” and “structures of sin” — as well as the dynamic balance between solidarity and subsidiarity.
Pedro Gabriel, MD, is a Catholic layman and physician, born and residing in Portugal. He is a medical oncologist, currently employed in a Portuguese public hospital. A published writer of Catholic novels with a Tolkienite flavor, he is also a parish reader and a former catechist. He seeks to better understand the relationship of God and Man by putting the lens on the frailty of the human condition, be it physical and spiritual. He also wishes to provide a fresh perspective of current Church and World affairs from the point of view of a small western European country, highly secularized but also highly Catholic by tradition.
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