Pope publishes new encyclical 'Dilexit Nos'

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 24 - Pope Francis on Thursday published the fourth encyclical of his pontificate.
    The encyclical is called Dilexit Nos - he loved us in Latin.
    Its full title is "Dilexit Nos - Encyclical Letter on the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ" and the original Spanish-language text is 40-page-long.
    The concept expressed by the encyclical is that "the heart symbol is often used to express the love of Jesus.
    "Some wonder if it still has a valid meaning.
    "But when we are tempted to navigate on the surface, to live in a rushed way without knowing in the end why, of becoming insatiable consumers and slaves to the mechanisms of a market that is uninterested in the meaning of our existence, we need to recuperate the importance of the heart", according to the fourth encyclical of the pontiff - including 'Lumen fidei', which was co-written with late pope emeritus Benedict XVI.
    And the encyclical explains why it is necessary to "return to the heart" in a world populated by "insatiable consumers and slaves to the mechanisms of the market".
    The failure to make room for the heart "has resulted in a stunting of the idea of a personal centre, in which love, in the end, is the one reality that can unify all the others", the pope writes.
    The encyclical highlights that it is key to recognize that "I am my heart, for my heart is what sets me apart, shapes my spiritual identity and puts me in communion with other people".
    Dilexit nos is Pope Francis' fourth encyclical, following Lumen fidei (June 29, 2013), co-written with Benedict XVI; Laudato si' (May 24, 2015), on the environmental crisis and the need for care for creation; and Fratelli tutti (October 3, 2020), which calls for global fraternity and social friendship in a world fractured by a pandemic and conflicts, including wars fought in the name of God. (ANSA).