Dear Friends in Christ,
When Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected Pope back in May, he chose the name Leo XIV, signalling an intention to continue the rich tradition of papal teaching on social justice, begun in the modern era by Pope Leo XIII.
As it happened, the late Pope Francis, before his final illness, had already begun preparing a major statement on love for the poor. Pope Leo took up this task and has made the document his own. Its opening words, I have loved you, come from chapter 3 of the Book of Revelation, in which Christ addresses the poor and powerless church of Philadelphia.
Pope Leo writes: Christian holiness often flourishes in the most forgotten and wounded places of humanity. The poorest of the poor – those who lack not only material goods but also a voice and the recognition of their dignity – have a special place in God’s heart. They are the beloved of the Gospel, the heirs to the Kingdom (cf. Lk 6:20). It is in them that Christ continues to suffer and rise again. It is in them that the Church rediscovers her call to show her most authentic self. (n 75)
Like the Popes before him, Leo speaks about the sinful structures of injustice which deepen and prolong the condition of the poor and the powerless, who are a majority of our sisters and brothers.
Many Popes have also repeated the phrase “if you want peace, work for justice.” May we, and many others, listen and respond to the call of this Exhortation with our prayer and a willingness to serve, even in humble ways, God’s desire for justice and peace among his children.
Yours in Christ,
+Michael McKenna
Bishop of Bathurst
