THE THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'S TEACHING
ON SOCIAL JUSTICE
"Love of the Lord is One with Love for the Poor"
by John R. Connolly
July 23, 2026
In his Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te, October 4, 2025, Pope Leo affirms that Jesus’ preferential and unconditional love for the poor has always been a central and traditional element of Catholic Church’s ministry to the poor. Leo views this document as a continuation of the Encyclical Dilexit Nos which Pope Francis was preparing in the last months of his life. In that encyclical Francis emphasized “the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus” for the poor. Jesus identified himself with the lowest ranks of society, confirmed the dignity of every human person, especially those who are weak, scorned, or suffering. Pope Leo explains that in Dilexi Te he is adopting Pope Francis’ message, while adding his own personal reflections, in order to share Francis’ desire that all Christians understand the connection between Christ’s love and his summons to care for the poor. As Pope Leo puts it in his own words, “Love for the Lord then, is one with the love for the poor.” (Dilexi Te, DT, 5).
In order to understand the Catholic Church’s commitment to the poor, Leo points out that it is important to realize that poverty comes in many different forms. The material poverty of those who lack the means of subsistence needed to live a fully human life is only one form of poverty. Throughout the document Pope Leo identifies those who are included in the Church’s understanding of the poor. The poor include those who are weak, the maimed, the lame, the blind, the sick, the outcast, laborers, harvesters, widows, orphans, slaves, foreigners, the hungry, beggars, paralytics, those in prison, victims of human trafficking, the victims of sexual exploitation, immigrants, those in detention centers, and the victims of racial discrimination, just to name a few. The poor includes all those people who are oppressed, do not have freedom or a voice, all those on the margins of society.
In Dilexi Te Pope Leo cites many sources from the history of the Church which demonstrate that the Church has always professed and preached that there is a special relationship between the love of Christ and the care for the poor. (DT, 73-76). He points out that all the popes from John XIII up to today have stressed that the mission of the Church includes a special commitment to care for the poor. In a radio address a month before the opening of the Second Vatican Council John XIII stated that “the Church presents herself as she is and as she wishes to be: the Church of all and in particular the Church of the poor” (DT, 84). At the opening of the second session of the council Pope Paul VI affirmed that the Church looks with particular attention “to the poor, the needy, the afflicted, the hungry, the suffering, the imprisoned…” To this he adds, “”the poor are the representatives of Christ.” (DT, 85). Pope Leo suggests that the Church’s preferential relationship with the poor was consolidated from a doctrinal standpoint in the teachings of Pope John Paul II. (DT, 87). John Paul II speaks of the Church’s “love of preference for the poor.” Leo goes on to state that John Paul II saw in the Church’s option for the poor a “special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity.” (DT, 87). Pope Benedict in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate that “the more we strive to secure a common good corresponding to the real needs of our neighbors, the more effectively we love them.” (DT, 88). Benedict pointed out that “hunger is not so much dependent on the lack of material things as on a shortage of social resources, the most important of which are institutional.” (DT, 88). Pope Francis and now Pope Leo are building on the teachings of the popes who preceded them.
In addressing the question of the causes of the oppression of the poor in Dilexi Te, Pope Leo cites the unjust political, social and economic structures in our societies today that contribute to the sufferings of the poor. Many of our societies today favor economic and political structures that institutionalize inequalities. (DT,10). They focus on the accumulation of wealth and social success at the expense of others by taking advantage of social ideals and political-economic systems that favor the strongest. (DT, 11). During his pontificate Pope Francis called for a transformation of capitalism urging it to center more on serving people rather than absolutizing the profit motive. In Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel) Francis firmly states that we have to say no “to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills.” (Evangelii Gaudium, EG, 53). He adds, “Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without means of escape.” The worship of the golden calf has returned in the guise of the idolatry of money and the “dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose.” (EG, 55). Francis cites the growing gap between the wealthy and majority of the people. (EG, 56). This, he says, is an economic system that “tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits. (EG, 56). In spite of these strong criticisms, Pope Francis does not condemn business. He states, “Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving the world…especially if it sees the creation of jobs as an essential part of its service to the common good.” (Laudato Si, Care for our Common Home, 129). Pope Francis is also skeptical of “market fundamentalism,” the belief that an unregulated free market would naturally result in justice and equality. He stresses that a commitment to the common good is an essential ingredient of an economy that serves the people.
Now it is entirely possible to see these built-in institutional elements of “lassie faire” liberal capitalism as simply political and economic problems. However, both Pope Leo and Pope Francis see these institutional structures that facilitate an unjust economy of exclusion and inequality as forms of sin. They refer to them as social or structural sins. Leo begins his discussion of social sin by referencing some of Pope Francis’ criticism of the dehumanizing consequences of social sin. Francis, in Dilexit Nos, states that social sin consolidates a structure of “sin within society” and gives rise to a “social alienations.” (Dilexit Nos, 183). In Evangelii Gaudium Francis states, “The need to resolve the structural causes of poverty cannot be delayed, not only for the pragmatic reason of its urgency for the good of society, but because society needs to be cured of a sickness which is weakening and frustrating it, and which can only lead to new crises.” (EG, 202).
In Dilexi Te Pope Leo states that these, “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. (DT, 91). Leo then presents all Christians with the following challenge: “all of the members of the People of God have a duty to make their voices heard, albeit in different ways in order to point out and denounce such structural issues.” He goes on to state that all Christians are called to make an impact on society. Living the Christian Gospel cannot be limited to the private sphere of one’s personal relationship with God. The commitment to work in this world to struggle against social sins and to transform the unjust and oppressive structures of society is an essential and integral part of the life of the Catholic. In this document both Pope Leo and Pope Francis adopt a wholistic understanding of Christian salvation. The Christian understanding of salvation includes the transformation of the whole person, body and soul. It is rooted in the incarnation, the belief that the Son of God became fully human in Jesus Christ and that Jesus brought salvation through his life, death and bodily resurrection. Therefore, the process of working toward salvation in this world has both a spiritual dimension and a social dimension. It is not only freedom from personal sin, but it is also the freedom to live in this world without the social, economic, and political oppression and the dehumanizing effects of social sin.
From this perspective it should be clear that the mission of the Church not only includes praying, worshiping God, and spiritual development, but that the accomplishment of these aspects includes working in the world to overcome political, social, and economic forms of injustice and oppression. To the charge that the Church should not be addressing worldly matters but should be focusing on eternal life Pope Leo XIII responded by saying that the Gospel cannot overlook the concrete lives of people. (MH,3). Pope John Paul II stated that the Church “when faced with historical changes, exercises her right and duty to examine social realities, make pronouncements about them, and indicate paths for finding solutions.” (John Paul II, Menti Nostrae, MH, 29). He goes on to add, “In this way, the perennial contents of faith find expression in a living doctrine that remains faithful to the Gospel, while growing in response to the new things of every era.” (John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, MH, 29). Working in the world to overcome political, social, and economic forms of injustice and oppression is an integral part of the Church’s mission.
Although the Catholic Church’s Social Justice teaching addresses the political, social, and economic injustices and the various forms of oppression imbedded in the structures of society, it is not a handbook of political, social, or economic solutions. It is not a repertoire of technical solutions, nor does it attempt to propose alternative political or economic models. In Magnifica Humanitas Pope Leo clearly states that the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching does not claim to supplant the responsibilities of politics or the institutions of society. (Magnifica Humanitas, 24). On the contrary, the Church’s social teaching “offers itself as a foundation for collective discernment, helping to recognize and promote whatever serves the dignity of persons, the vitality of communities and the common good.” (HM, 24). Its principles are rooted in the Catholic Church’s acceptance of God’s salvific revelation made manifest in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Its source of life is the living faith community, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reflecting on the dehumanizing and oppressive structures of society from the perspective of the Word of God revealed in the Scriptures and the historical tradition of the church. Its method is theological although in its process of discernment “it allows itself to be challenged by the signs of the times and draws nourishment from the contributions of science, culture and human experience.” (MH, 27). As Pope Leo puts it, the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching is “born from the encounter between the eternal truth of the Gospel and the questions of history.”(MH, 27).
In Dilexi Te and Magnifica Humanitas Pope Leo XVI traces the development of the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching and demonstrates that it is firmly rooted in the history and the tradition of the Catholic Church. However, it is important to realize that more fundamentally it is rooted in the connection between the Christian commitment to follow Jesus and to love as he did and the gospel’s summons to love the poor as Jesus did. Pope Leo XIV emphasizes the importance of this connection when he states that the connection between loving Christ and caring for the poor is not just a matter of human kindness, but it has its source in Christian revelation. (DT, 5). He also says that it is the basis for Christian holiness. (DT, 3). The expression, “Love for the Lord, then, is one with love for the poor” also implies that if you do not love the poor, you do not love the Lord. Yet Leo admits that there is still work to be done in communicating this message to Catholics today. The pope points out that Catholics today are also among those who denigrate the poor and succumb to the secular, political and economic approaches that contribute to their oppression. As a result, Pope Leo suggests that in order to achieve its ministry to the poor, the Church must go back and re-read the Gospel from the perspective of Jesus’ love for the poor.
In order to understand the Catholic Church’s commitment to the poor, Leo points out that it is important to realize that poverty comes in many different forms. The material poverty of those who lack the means of subsistence needed to live a fully human life is only one form of poverty. Throughout the document Pope Leo identifies those who are included in the Church’s understanding of the poor. The poor include those who are weak, the maimed, the lame, the blind, the sick, the outcast, laborers, harvesters, widows, orphans, slaves, foreigners, the hungry, beggars, paralytics, those in prison, victims of human trafficking, the victims of sexual exploitation, immigrants, those in detention centers, and the victims of racial discrimination, just to name a few. The poor includes all those people who are oppressed, do not have freedom or a voice, all those on the margins of society.
In Dilexi Te Pope Leo cites many sources from the history of the Church which demonstrate that the Church has always professed and preached that there is a special relationship between the love of Christ and the care for the poor. (DT, 73-76). He points out that all the popes from John XIII up to today have stressed that the mission of the Church includes a special commitment to care for the poor. In a radio address a month before the opening of the Second Vatican Council John XIII stated that “the Church presents herself as she is and as she wishes to be: the Church of all and in particular the Church of the poor” (DT, 84). At the opening of the second session of the council Pope Paul VI affirmed that the Church looks with particular attention “to the poor, the needy, the afflicted, the hungry, the suffering, the imprisoned…” To this he adds, “”the poor are the representatives of Christ.” (DT, 85). Pope Leo suggests that the Church’s preferential relationship with the poor was consolidated from a doctrinal standpoint in the teachings of Pope John Paul II. (DT, 87). John Paul II speaks of the Church’s “love of preference for the poor.” Leo goes on to state that John Paul II saw in the Church’s option for the poor a “special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity.” (DT, 87). Pope Benedict in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate that “the more we strive to secure a common good corresponding to the real needs of our neighbors, the more effectively we love them.” (DT, 88). Benedict pointed out that “hunger is not so much dependent on the lack of material things as on a shortage of social resources, the most important of which are institutional.” (DT, 88). Pope Francis and now Pope Leo are building on the teachings of the popes who preceded them.
In addressing the question of the causes of the oppression of the poor in Dilexi Te, Pope Leo cites the unjust political, social and economic structures in our societies today that contribute to the sufferings of the poor. Many of our societies today favor economic and political structures that institutionalize inequalities. (DT,10). They focus on the accumulation of wealth and social success at the expense of others by taking advantage of social ideals and political-economic systems that favor the strongest. (DT, 11). During his pontificate Pope Francis called for a transformation of capitalism urging it to center more on serving people rather than absolutizing the profit motive. In Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel) Francis firmly states that we have to say no “to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills.” (Evangelii Gaudium, EG, 53). He adds, “Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without means of escape.” The worship of the golden calf has returned in the guise of the idolatry of money and the “dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose.” (EG, 55). Francis cites the growing gap between the wealthy and majority of the people. (EG, 56). This, he says, is an economic system that “tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits. (EG, 56). In spite of these strong criticisms, Pope Francis does not condemn business. He states, “Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving the world…especially if it sees the creation of jobs as an essential part of its service to the common good.” (Laudato Si, Care for our Common Home, 129). Pope Francis is also skeptical of “market fundamentalism,” the belief that an unregulated free market would naturally result in justice and equality. He stresses that a commitment to the common good is an essential ingredient of an economy that serves the people.
Now it is entirely possible to see these built-in institutional elements of “lassie faire” liberal capitalism as simply political and economic problems. However, both Pope Leo and Pope Francis see these institutional structures that facilitate an unjust economy of exclusion and inequality as forms of sin. They refer to them as social or structural sins. Leo begins his discussion of social sin by referencing some of Pope Francis’ criticism of the dehumanizing consequences of social sin. Francis, in Dilexit Nos, states that social sin consolidates a structure of “sin within society” and gives rise to a “social alienations.” (Dilexit Nos, 183). In Evangelii Gaudium Francis states, “The need to resolve the structural causes of poverty cannot be delayed, not only for the pragmatic reason of its urgency for the good of society, but because society needs to be cured of a sickness which is weakening and frustrating it, and which can only lead to new crises.” (EG, 202).
In Dilexi Te Pope Leo states that these, “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. (DT, 91). Leo then presents all Christians with the following challenge: “all of the members of the People of God have a duty to make their voices heard, albeit in different ways in order to point out and denounce such structural issues.” He goes on to state that all Christians are called to make an impact on society. Living the Christian Gospel cannot be limited to the private sphere of one’s personal relationship with God. The commitment to work in this world to struggle against social sins and to transform the unjust and oppressive structures of society is an essential and integral part of the life of the Catholic. In this document both Pope Leo and Pope Francis adopt a wholistic understanding of Christian salvation. The Christian understanding of salvation includes the transformation of the whole person, body and soul. It is rooted in the incarnation, the belief that the Son of God became fully human in Jesus Christ and that Jesus brought salvation through his life, death and bodily resurrection. Therefore, the process of working toward salvation in this world has both a spiritual dimension and a social dimension. It is not only freedom from personal sin, but it is also the freedom to live in this world without the social, economic, and political oppression and the dehumanizing effects of social sin.
From this perspective it should be clear that the mission of the Church not only includes praying, worshiping God, and spiritual development, but that the accomplishment of these aspects includes working in the world to overcome political, social, and economic forms of injustice and oppression. To the charge that the Church should not be addressing worldly matters but should be focusing on eternal life Pope Leo XIII responded by saying that the Gospel cannot overlook the concrete lives of people. (MH,3). Pope John Paul II stated that the Church “when faced with historical changes, exercises her right and duty to examine social realities, make pronouncements about them, and indicate paths for finding solutions.” (John Paul II, Menti Nostrae, MH, 29). He goes on to add, “In this way, the perennial contents of faith find expression in a living doctrine that remains faithful to the Gospel, while growing in response to the new things of every era.” (John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, MH, 29). Working in the world to overcome political, social, and economic forms of injustice and oppression is an integral part of the Church’s mission.
Although the Catholic Church’s Social Justice teaching addresses the political, social, and economic injustices and the various forms of oppression imbedded in the structures of society, it is not a handbook of political, social, or economic solutions. It is not a repertoire of technical solutions, nor does it attempt to propose alternative political or economic models. In Magnifica Humanitas Pope Leo clearly states that the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching does not claim to supplant the responsibilities of politics or the institutions of society. (Magnifica Humanitas, 24). On the contrary, the Church’s social teaching “offers itself as a foundation for collective discernment, helping to recognize and promote whatever serves the dignity of persons, the vitality of communities and the common good.” (HM, 24). Its principles are rooted in the Catholic Church’s acceptance of God’s salvific revelation made manifest in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Its source of life is the living faith community, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reflecting on the dehumanizing and oppressive structures of society from the perspective of the Word of God revealed in the Scriptures and the historical tradition of the church. Its method is theological although in its process of discernment “it allows itself to be challenged by the signs of the times and draws nourishment from the contributions of science, culture and human experience.” (MH, 27). As Pope Leo puts it, the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching is “born from the encounter between the eternal truth of the Gospel and the questions of history.”(MH, 27).
In Dilexi Te and Magnifica Humanitas Pope Leo XVI traces the development of the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching and demonstrates that it is firmly rooted in the history and the tradition of the Catholic Church. However, it is important to realize that more fundamentally it is rooted in the connection between the Christian commitment to follow Jesus and to love as he did and the gospel’s summons to love the poor as Jesus did. Pope Leo XIV emphasizes the importance of this connection when he states that the connection between loving Christ and caring for the poor is not just a matter of human kindness, but it has its source in Christian revelation. (DT, 5). He also says that it is the basis for Christian holiness. (DT, 3). The expression, “Love for the Lord, then, is one with love for the poor” also implies that if you do not love the poor, you do not love the Lord. Yet Leo admits that there is still work to be done in communicating this message to Catholics today. The pope points out that Catholics today are also among those who denigrate the poor and succumb to the secular, political and economic approaches that contribute to their oppression. As a result, Pope Leo suggests that in order to achieve its ministry to the poor, the Church must go back and re-read the Gospel from the perspective of Jesus’ love for the poor.