By Elena Yeyati

Currently, as we review our General Principles and our guidelines on the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Persons, reading and praying with the new Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te by Pope Leo XIV fills our hearts with joy. It invites us to reaffirm the essence of being Christian in light of today’s realities and in the context of our apostolic frontiers and mission priorities.

The text highlights the centrality of the poor. Dilexi te journeys through the Bible, the history of the Church, and Church’s Social Doctrine to recognize and remind us of the privileged place that every kind of excluded person holds in society. One cannot be truly Christian without placing them at the center; this is what should shape our faith and define our way of life.

This “preference” never indicates exclusivity or discrimination towards other groups, which would be impossible for God. It is meant to emphasize God’s actions, which are moved by compassion toward the poverty and weakness of all humanity. Wanting to inaugurate a kingdom of justice, fraternity and solidarity, God has a special place in his heart for those who are discriminated against and oppressed, and he asks us, his Church, to make a decisive and radical choice in favor of the weakest. (DT,16)

We are called to recognize each of them as subjects capable of creating their own culture, rather than as objects of charity on the part of others. (DT 100). No Christian can regard the poor simply as a societal problem; they are part of our “family.” They are “one of us.” (DT 104)

This Apostolic Exhortation reminds us that Christian love breaks down every barrier, brings close those who were distant, unites strangers, and reconciles enemies… Love is above all a way of looking at life and a way of living it. A Church that sets no limits to love, that knows no enemies to fight but only men and women to love, is the Church that the world needs today (DT 120). Through your work, your efforts to change unjust social structures or your simple, heartfelt gesture of closeness and support, the poor will come to realize that Jesus’ words are addressed personally to each of them: “I have loved you” (Rev 3:9). (DT 121).

Through your work, your efforts to change unjust social structures or your simple, heartfelt gesture of closeness and support, the poor will come to realize that Jesus’ words are addressed personally to each of them: “I have loved you” (Rev 3:9). We are particularly aware of the pressing need to work for justice through a preferential option for the poor and a simple life style, which expresses our freedom and solidarity with them.

Dilexi te confirma nuestro carisma, que el Señor nos de la gracia para saber responder como miembros de CVX a los signos de los tiempos.