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.
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