SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Pope Leo is drawing the world's attention to poverty. A new Vatican document released today describes caring for the poor as an essential Christian task. Joining us now to talk about the first major document of Leo's papacy and how people are responding to it is NPR religion correspondent Jason DeRose. Hey, Jason.
JASON DEROSE, BYLINE: Hello.
DETROW: So this document is called Dilexi Te, or in English, I Have Loved You. Why's it called that?
DEROSE: Well, it's a quote from the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, and it's addressed to a group of poverty-stricken early Christians who were being oppressed by the Roman Empire. So I think Leo is saying that since the very early church, God's love has been focused on those in dire need - the poor and those with no resources.
DETROW: What are some of the major points that the pope makes in this document?
DEROSE: Well, he reminds readers that Jesus was himself born into a poor family and lived an itinerant life and that Jesus' ministry was to the poor - those who had not only no money, but no power in society. Pope Leo quotes extensively from the Gospels, including Matthew 25 - this famous story in which Jesus tells the disciples that when they feed the hungry and clothe the naked and heal the sick and house the homeless, they are doing those things to Jesus himself.
Leo goes on to say that care for the poor is not just accomplished in acts of charity - or almsgiving, as he calls it - but in addressing systems that cause poverty. He calls those societal sins - systemic sin in which all people are implicated. Here's Sister Carol Zinn, executive director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.
CAROL ZINN: My hope would be as we around the world read this exhortation, we will find ourselves in it. Like, what is my contribution to structural sin? Where do I buy my clothes? What do I eat?
DEROSE: And Pope Leo in the document draws attention to economic disparity - that the rich are accumulating vast wealth, while at the same time, more and more people are living destitute lives. He even highlights an idea from Latin American liberation theologians who talk about God's preferential option for the poor. Remember, Leo himself spent years working in Peru among some of the most poverty-stricken people on the planet.
DETROW: So on one hand, this document was in the works even before Leo was elected pope earlier this year, but on the other hand, it does seem especially timely and also political.
DEROSE: Well, I think anytime you talk about poverty, you're talking about economics, and economic systems are political. Leo describes economic disparity as part of systemic sin, systemic oppression. That's clearly political. In fact, part of the document becomes even more pointed when it comes to addressing the plight of migrants. Leo points out that most people migrate due to economic conditions. They're fleeing poverty. And Leo quotes Pope Francis, saying that a focus on poverty is also a focus on migration, that the role of Christians is to, quote, "welcome, protect, promote and integrate" migrants. Here's Steve Millies, who teaches theology at Pope Leo's graduate school alma mater, the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
STEVE MILLIES: At a time like this, while masked ICE agents are roaming the streets of the pope's home city here in Chicago, it's hard not to be seized by this message. Because nothing could be more radical than saying, God loves those who have no power, those who are being deported. God loves those who are fearful in their homes.
DEROSE: You know, and by implication, calls to task those doing the deporting and causing the fear among migrants.
DETROW: So this document has been released. What happens next?
DEROSE: Well, Catholics and others around the world will read it and think about it, and priests will preach on it and Sunday school classes will teach it. Just look at what happened with Pope Francis' teachings on care for the environment. That entered church teaching. It changed Catholic college and diocese policies about the environment. It even changed the liturgy in some instances. All of which is meant to change people's minds and, as Leo writes, burst the privileged bubbles people live in and lead them to eventually, hopefully, care for their neighbors.
DETROW: That is NPR religion correspondent Jason DeRose. Thank you so much.
DEROSE: You're welcome.
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