Pope Leo’s first apostolic exhortation set to be released

The document is expected to focus on poverty and the poor. Vatican Media footage of the Pope signing the text in the library of the Apostolic Palace showed the first page of the table of contents in Italian with chapters dedicated to St Francis of Assisi, “The cry of the poor”, “Ideological prejudices”, “God chooses the poor”, “Jesus, the poor Messiah”, “A church for the poor”, “The true riches of the Church”, among others.

St Francis was known for his life of radical simplicity and poverty, seeking to imitate Christ and be detached from material possessions and earthly glory to better love and serve God.

The National Catholic Register reported that the document on the poor was one of the “suspended” documents left in progress at the time of Pope Francis’ death. Its text had initially been entrusted to Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, for a preliminary draft. 

By deciding to move forward with its publication, Pope Leo is demonstrating his desire to proceed in continuity with his predecessor’s legacy, according to the National Catholic Register article. However, he called for a thorough revision of the text, demonstrating that he also intends to shape his own pontificate right from the outset.

The exhortation on the poor would be the second example of a “four-handed papal document” in recent history. Pope Francis, newly elected in 2013, decided to publish the encyclical Lumen Fidei, which had been almost entirely prepared by his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

Pope Leo continued the theme of poverty in his catechesis during the October 4 in a special audience at St Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of Migrants and the Jubilee of the Missions. Pope Leo reflected on St Luke’s account (16:13-14) of a group of pharisees who loved money and sneered at Jesus’ counsel to be completely dependent on God.

While the Holy Year dedicated to hope is a time for seeking forgiveness and mercy “so that everything can begin anew”, the Pope said in his main address that “the Jubilee also opens up the hope of a different distribution of wealth, the possibility that the earth belongs to everyone, because this is not the case right now.”

“During this year, we must choose whom to serve, justice or injustice, God or money,” he said.

FULL STORY

One can’t serve God and money, pope says on day he signs text on poverty (By Carol Glatz/CNS)

Leo’s First Papal Document, on Poverty, Is Expected to Be Released Oct. 9 (National Catholic Register)

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