Pope Leo XIV criticizes the "bubble of comfort and luxury" surrounding the wealthy elite
Kyiv • UNN
Pope Leo XIV criticized the "bubble of comfort and luxury" of the rich, confirming agreement with his predecessor Francis on social and economic injustice. In his first teaching document, "Dilexi te," he emphasized Christianity's constant concern for the poor.
Pope Leo XIV criticized how the rich live in a "bubble of comfort and luxury" while the poor suffer on the sidelines, confirming in his first teaching document that he fully agrees with his predecessor Pope Francis on issues of social and economic injustice, UNN reports with reference to AP.
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On Thursday, the Vatican published a document titled "Dilexi te," which Francis began writing in the last months of his life but never finished. Leo, elected in May, attributed the authorship of the text to Francis, quoted him repeatedly, but stated that he considered the document his own and signed it.
The 100-page document traces the history of Christianity's constant concern for the poor, from biblical quotes and the teachings of the Church Fathers to the sermons of recent Popes on caring for migrants, prisoners, and victims of human trafficking.
Leo particularly credits women's religious orders for fulfilling God's mandate to care for the sick, feed the poor, and welcome travelers, and praises grassroots lay movements that advocate for land, housing, and work for disadvantaged members of society.
The conclusion Leo draws is that the Catholic Church's "preferential option for the poor" has existed from the beginning, is non-negotiable, and is the essence of Christianity. He calls for renewed commitment to addressing the structural causes of poverty while providing unconditional charity to those in need.
"When the Church kneels beside a leprous, emaciated child or an anonymous dying person, she fulfills her profound vocation: to love the Lord where He is most disfigured," Leo writes.
Leo frequently quotes Francis, including some of the Argentine Pope's most cited theses on the global "economy that kills" and criticism of the "trickle-down economy." Francis emphasized these theses from the beginning of his pontificate in 2013, stating that he wanted "a church that is poor and for the poor."
"God reserves a special place in his heart for those who are discriminated against and oppressed, and He asks us, His Church, to make a firm and radical choice in favor of the weakest," Leo writes.
Echoing Francis, Leo speaks out against the "illusion of happiness" generated by the accumulation of wealth. "Thus, in a world where the poor are becoming more numerous, we paradoxically see the rise of a wealthy elite living in a bubble of comfort and luxury, practically in another world compared to ordinary people," he noted.
Francis' frequent criticism of capitalism has angered many conservative and wealthy Catholics, especially in the US, who have accused the Argentine Jesuit of Marxism, the publication writes.
In a recent interview, Leo stated that such unfounded criticism cannot be directed at him. "The fact that I am American, among other things, means that people cannot, as they said about Francis, say: 'He doesn't understand the United States, he just doesn't see what's happening,'" Leo told the Catholic website Crux.
As a result, Leo's embrace of Francis' teaching on poverty and the Church's duty to care for the weakest is an important affirmation of this, especially in Leo's first teaching, the publication writes.
Vatican officials insisted that the text belongs entirely to Leo and refused to say how much Francis had written before his death.
"It's 100% Francis and 100% Leo," said Cardinal Michael Czerny, who heads the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and was one of Francis' chief aides. Asked whether the same conservatives who called Francis a Marxist or communist would now accuse Leo of the same, Czerny replied that both were simply following the Gospel.
Leo signed the text on October 4, the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, the 13th-century mendicant friar who renounced his wealth to live poor among the poor. The date was not accidental.
"The fact that some reject or ridicule charitable works, as if it were an obsession of a few, and not the ardent essence of the Church's mission, convinces me of the need to return and reread the Gospel, so that we do not risk replacing it with the wisdom of this world," Pope Leo XIV indicated.