Pope Francis published the fourth encyclical of his eleven-year pontificate on Thursday.

The 141-page, 28,000-word Dilexit nos (“He Loved Us”) follows in 2013 Lumen fidei (co-written with Benedict XVI), 2015 Laudato si’and 2020 Fratelli tutti.

The new encyclical startor opening line, is taken from Romans 8:37, in which St. Paul says that Christians can overcome any adversity “through Him who loved us.”

What is the genesis of the new encyclical, dedicated to “the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ”? And what does it say?

Here’s a quick guide for busy readers.

Part

What is the background?

Pope Francis revealed in June, the month traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart, that he planned to write a document on the devotion that swept the Catholic world after French nun Margaret Maria Alacoque saw visions of Jesus between December 27, 1673 and June reported. 1675.

Alacoque, who lived at the Visitation Monastery in Paray-le-Monial, eastern France, said she heard Christ tell her that he wanted her to spread the “burning charity” of his heart to the ends of the earth.

During a general audience on June 5, the pope noted that the 350th anniversary of Alacoque’s First Vision was in December 2023.

“That occasion marked the beginning of a period of festivities that will end on June 27 next year,” he said. “This is why I have the pleasure of preparing a document that brings together the precious reflections of previous magisterial texts and a long history dating back to Sacred Scripture, to offer today to the whole Church this dedication, imbued with spiritual beauty.”

“I believe it will do us much good to meditate on various aspects of the Lord’s love, which can illuminate the path of ecclesial renewal and say something meaningful to a world that seems to have lost its heart.”

“I ask you to accompany me in prayer during this time of preparation, with the intention of making this document public next September.”

The Vatican has not given a reason for the text’s delay in September, but the pope’s hectic travel schedule that month could explain the delay.

On October 21, the Holy See’s press office announced that the document – ​​first announced as an encyclical – would be released at an October 24 press conference with two speakers: Italian theologian Archbishop Bruno Forte and Sr. Antonella Fraccaro, leader of the Disciples of the Gospel, an Italian institute for consecrated life inspired by the spirituality of St. Charles de Foucauld.

In his June announcement, the pope outlined the basic structure of the document, starting with references to the heart of Christ in the Bible, reviewing previous papal statements on the Sacred Heart, and “reimagining” the commitment to humanity of the 21st century.

What ‘earlier magisterial texts’ was Pope Francis referring to? There are various contacts with the Sacred Heart:

• Encyclical of Leo XIII from 1899 Year holy.

• Encyclical of Pius XI from 1928 Mistentissimus Redemptor and encyclical from 1932 Caritate Christi compulsi.

• Encyclical of Pius XII from 1956 Haurietis aquas.

• John Paul II’s 1999 letter on the 100th anniversary of Year holy.

• Benedict XVI’s 2006 letter on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Haurietis aquas.

The first footnote Dilexit nos acknowledges another source of inspiration: the Argentine Jesuit Fr. Diego Fares, who died in 2022 at the age of 66. Pope Francis says Fares’ unpublished writings prompted “many of the reflections” in the encyclical’s opening chapter, on “the importance of the heart.”

In Dilexit nosPope Francis appears to be adding a Christological coda to his social encyclicals Laudato si’ And Fratelli tuttiwhich some criticized for what they saw as a lack of focus on Christ.

“The current document can help us see that the teaching of the social encyclicals Laudato si’ And Fratelli tutti is not separate from our encounter with the love of Jesus Christ,” the Pope wrote.

“For by drinking of that same love, we become able to forge bonds of brotherhood, to recognize the dignity of every human being, and to work together to care for our common home.”

What does it say?

The encyclical is divided into five chapters.

1) The importance of the heart: This chapter reflects on what we mean when we talk about ‘the heart’, with reference to ancient Greek civilization and the Bible. The Pope states that in a time of social unrest we must ‘start talking about the heart again’.

He writes: “In this age of artificial intelligence, we cannot forget that poetry and love are necessary to save our humanity.”

2) Actions and words of love: In the short second chapter, Francis reflects on Christ’s “concrete actions” and words that revealed the depth of his love for man.

3) This is the heart that has loved so much: The Pope then considers what consecration to the heart of Christ consists of. It is not, he emphasizes, ‘the veneration of a single organ apart from the Person of Jesus’. Instead, “what we regard and worship is the whole of Jesus Christ.”

He urges Catholics not to cling to certain images of the heart of Christ, some of which “may seem to us tasteless and not particularly conducive to affection or prayer,” but to allow them to bring us to an encounter to lead with Jesus.

The Pope argues for the continued relevance of the devotion to the Sacred Heart.

“The expressive and symbolic image of the heart of Christ is not the only means given to us by the Holy Spirit to encounter the love of Christ, but it is nevertheless a particularly privileged means,” he writes.

But the devotion must be continually nourished, he says, through practices such as receiving communion on the first Friday of each month and spending an hour in Eucharistic adoration every Thursday.

Francis suggests that just as devotion to the Sacred Heart challenged Jansenism in the 17th century, today it responds to “a powerful wave of secularization that seeks to build a world free of God.”

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“I must warn that a pernicious Jansenist dualism has reemerged in new forms within the Church,” he writes. “This has gained renewed vigor in recent decades, but it is a revival of Gnosticism which proved to be such a great spiritual threat in the early centuries of Christianity because it refused to accept the reality of ‘the salvation of the flesh’ acknowledge. For this reason, I turn my gaze to the heart of Christ and invite us all to renew our commitment to it.”

4) A love that gives itself as a drink: The fourth chapter examines the deep historical roots of devotion to the heart of Christ, beginning with the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the early Church Fathers.

The Pope maps the spread of devotion in the Middle Ages and emphasizes the mystical experiences of women such as Julian of Norwich. He devotes a chapter to the ‘important contribution’ of the 16th-century writer-saint Francis de Sales.

He then comes to the revelations received by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and defended by her Jesuit confessor St. Claude La Colombière. From there he moves on to the influential 19th-century French saints Charles de Foucauld and Thérèse of Lisieux.

The first Jesuit Pope points out the special role that the Society of Jesus plays in spreading the devotion of the Sacred Heart.

The devotion’s long history, and its central role in the lives of so many saints, shows that it is not an “admirable relic of the past, a refined spirituality appropriate to other times,” he says.

5) Love for love: In the fifth chapter, Francis considers the human response to the encounter with the loving heart of Christ. He reflects on how Christians throughout the ages have been moved to address the needs and suffering of others.

Here he considers the significance of restoration to the Sacred Heart, a notable feature of the devotion associated with St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. The saint revealed that Jesus told her to “make reparation for the ingratitude of men.”

The Pope underlines the “social significance” of recovery, emphasizing the need for “a true spirit of recovery” that goes beyond simply accomplishing “a whole series of external works.”

He concludes the chapter with a reflection on the missionary dimension of commitment to the heart of Christ.

Pope Francis then offers a short conclusion in which he argues for the continued relevance of the devotion.

He writes, “The love of Christ can give our world a heart and revive love wherever we think the capacity to love has been permanently lost.”

He says the Church itself needs this love, “to prevent the love of Christ from being replaced by outdated structures and concerns, excessive attachment to our own ideas and opinions, and fanaticism in any form.”

What about the 200+ footnotes? In addition to the expected references to the works of popes and saints, an eclectic range of writers are cited, including papal favorites Dante Alighieri and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and the controversial German philosopher Martin Heidegger.

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