In October 2025, Pope Leo XIV issued his first document, the Apostolic Exhortation entitled Dilexi Te (“I have loved you,” from Revelation 3:9), which touches upon Christian love for the poor.[1] Much has been said about it, and much more will be said over time. In this opinion piece, I hope to contribute to the conversation by offering some points for reflection.
First, I welcome and praise Dilexi Te (DT) as another fine contribution to the corpus of Church teachings. Not only does it direct attention to the poor, but it also pays tribute to the long tradition of Christian charity. Together with Catholics, Christians of other traditions will find much for shared reflection in DT. While there is no doubt of the doctrinal soundness of DT, as a Catholic who is also Asian, particularly Filipino, something caught my attention, which I lay out for consideration.
In DT, the words “America/American” are found eleven times in the text proper (eighteen if one includes the endnotes), while “Europe” and its variants are found five times therein (seven with endnotes). However, the words “Asia” and “Africa” are nowhere to be found, despite there being vast numbers of the world’s poor living in these two continents. Moreover, none of the 130 endnotes in DT has a modern source or reference that originates from these same continents, whereas six have content from Latin America (considering that Pope Francis was Argentinian and Pope Leo worked in Peru, I sense the reason). In fairness, “India” is mentioned in reference to the work of St. Teresa of Calcutta (no. 77), “Sahara” in reference to the work of St. Charles de Foucauld (no. 79), and “Cairo” for Sr. Emmanuelle Cinquin (no. 79). But are we being pedantic?
Let us consider the following: according to the United Nations, about 490 million people in Africa lived with extreme poverty in 2021.[2] Furthermore, the Asian Development Bank reported that about 155 million people in Asia lived with extreme poverty in 2023.[3] In total, about 645 million people lived in extreme poverty in these two continents. For a comparative perspective, around 438 million people live in the entire continent of South America,[4] and around 745 million people in the entire continent of Europe.[5] The poor in Asia and Africa are sizable indeed.
I do not intend to distract from the insightful teachings of DT, nor do I desire to dictate how papal documents should be written. On the contrary, I eagerly recommend that Christians read DT with a discerning heart and proactive spirit. Yet, I refer to the observation of Pope John Paul II in Ecclesia in Asia, which is that in Asia, “others still find themselves in abject poverty, indeed among the poorest nations on earth (no. 7).”[6] The same pontiff also asks in Ecclesia in Africa: “How could one proclaim Christ on that immense Continent while forgetting that it is one of the world’s poorest regions (no. 51)?”[7] With due regard for their original contexts, these documents were issued in 1999 and 1995, respectively, but they remain valid today.
As a Catholic, I affirm that theological truths and virtues are perennial and universal. But as a theologian, I am inclined to think that, in the spirit of synodality, papal magisterial commentaries on social issues can benefit from socio-cultural variety. Perhaps future magisterial documents by Pope Leo would balance things out. For now, I ask this: Is the lack of Asian and African references in DT negligible? Maybe it is a subtle invitation from the Holy Father for theologians and clergy in these two continents to promote their insights in the universal Church. On that note, I recommend, as a complement to DT, the Pastoral Exhortation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) entitled “To Bring Glad Tidings to the Poor (Luke 4:18),” which was issued in January 2014.[8] In that document, the CBCP reminds the faithful, among other things, that love of Jesus must overcome the greed of a few that sustains the poverty of many.
All things considered, I welcome and praise DT. Truly, we may echo the bishops at the ecumenical council of Chalcedon: “Peter has spoken through Leo!”
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[1] Leo XIV, Dilexi Te (Rome: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2025), available at https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20251004-dilexi-te.html.
[2] United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, “Economic Development in Africa Report 2021: Reaping the potential benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area for inclusive growth” UNCTAD/PRESS/PR/2021/046, available at https://unctad.org/press-material/facts-and-figures-7.
[3] “Asia’s poor grew by 68 million people after pandemic, report says,” Aljazeera (24 Aug 2023), available at https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/8/24/asias-poor-grew-by-68-million-people-after-pandemic-report-says.
[4] Worldometer, “South America Population (LIVE),” available at https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/south-america-population/.
[5] Worldometer, “Europe Population (LIVE),” available at https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/europe-population/.
[6] John Paul II, Ecclesia in Asia (Rome: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1999), available at https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_06111999_ecclesia-in-asia.html.
[7] John Paul II, Ecclesia in Africa (Rome: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1995), available at https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_14091995_ecclesia-in-africa.html.
[8] Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, “To Bring Glad Tidings to the Poor (Luke 4:18)” [Pastoral Exhortation], available at https://cbcponline.net/to-bring-glad-tidings-to-the-poor-luke-418/.