A quick guide for busy readers

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

The book consists of 141 pages and 28,000 words Dilexit no (“He Loved Us”) follows 2013 Lumen fidei (written together with Benedict XVI), 2015 Laudato si'and 2020s Fratelli tutti.

The new encyclical BeginningThe opening sentence comes from Romans 8:37, where St. Paul says that Christians can overcome all adversity “through him who loved us.”

What is the origin 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.

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What is the background?

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

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

At a general audience on June 5, the pope noted that the 350th anniversary of Alacoque's first vision falls on December 2023.

“This occasion marked the beginning of a phase of celebrations that will end on June 27 next year,” he said. “Therefore, I am pleased to prepare a document that brings together the valuable reflections of previous doctrinal texts and a long history dating back to Holy Scripture, in order to reintroduce to the entire Church today this devotion imbued with spiritual beauty.”

“I believe that it will do us very good to reflect on various aspects of the Lord's love that 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 join me in prayer during this time of preparation with the intention of publishing this document next September.”

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

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

In his June announcement, the pope laid out the document's basic structure, beginning with references to the Heart of Christ in the Bible, a review of previous papal statements on the Sacred Heart and a “re-proposal” of devotion to humanity in the 21st century.

What “earlier teaching texts” was Pope Francis referring to? There are several that touch the Sacred Heart:

• Encyclical of Leo XIII from 1899 Annum sacrum.

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

• Encyclical by Pius XII from 1956 Haurietis aquas.

• Letter from John Paul II from 1999 on the 100th anniversary of Annum sacrum.

• Letter from Benedict XVI from 2006 on the 50th anniversary of Haurietis aquas.

The first footnote in Dilexit no pays tribute to another source of inspiration: the Argentine Jesuit priest 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 noPope Francis seems to be adding a Christological coda to his social encyclicals Laudato si' And Fratelli tuttiwhich some criticized for its lack of focus on Christ.

“This document can help us to recognize the teaching of the social encyclicals Laudato si' And Fratelli tutti is not unconnected with our encounter with the love of Jesus Christ,” the Pope writes.

“For when we drink from the same love, we become able to forge bonds of brotherhood, to recognize the dignity of each person and to work together to care for our common home.”

What does it say?

The encyclical is divided into five chapters.

1) The meaning of the heart: This chapter considers what we mean when we speak of the “heart” in relation to ancient Greek civilization and the Bible. The Pope argues that in a time of social upheaval, we must “start talking about the heart again.”

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

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

3) This is the heart that loved so much: The Pope then considers what devotion to the Heart of Christ consists of. He points out that this is not “the veneration of a single organ outside the person of Jesus.” Instead, “we consider and venerate the whole Jesus Christ.”

He calls on Catholics not to get involved in certain images of the heart of Christ, some of which “seem to us tasteless and not particularly conducive to affection or prayer,” but to allow them to lead us to an encounter with Jesus.

The Pope argues for the continued relevance of veneration of the Sacred Heart.

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

But devotion must be continually cultivated, 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 points out that devotion to the Sacred Heart challenged Jansenism in the 17th century and today responds to “a powerful wave of secularization aimed at building a world free from God.”

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“I must warn that a disastrous Jansenist dualism has re-emerged in new forms even within the Church,” he writes. “This has gained strength again in recent decades, but it is a resurgence of Gnosticism, which proved such a great spiritual threat in the early centuries of Christianity because it refused to acknowledge the reality of 'salvation of the flesh.' “For this reason, I turn my gaze to the heart of Christ and invite us all to renew our devotion to it.”

4) A love that gives itself as a drink: The fourth chapter considers 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 traces the spread of devotion in the Middle Ages and highlights the mystical experiences of women like Julian of Norwich. He devotes a section to the “important contribution” of the 16th-century saintly writer Francis de Sales.

He then comes to the revelations received by Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque and which were supported by her Jesuit confessor, Saint Claude La Colombière. From there he turns to the influential 19th-century French saints Charles de Foucauld and Thérèse of Lisieux.

The first Jesuit pope points to the unique role played by the Society of Jesus in spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart.

The devotion's long history and its centrality to the lives of so many saints show that it is not “an admirable relic from the past, a beautiful spirituality fit for other times,” he says.

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

Here he addresses the importance of reparation 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 amends for people’s ingratitude.”

The Pope underlines the “social importance” of reparation and emphasizes the need for a “true spirit of reparation” that goes beyond simply carrying out “a collection of external works.”

He ends the chapter with a consideration of the missionary dimension of devotion to the Heart of Christ.

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

He writes: “The love of Christ can give heart to our world and revive love wherever we believe that the capacity for love has been definitively lost.”

He says the church itself needs this love, “so that the love of Christ is not replaced by outdated structures and concerns, excessive attachment to our own ideas and opinions, and fanaticism in all possible forms.”

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

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