Dilexit nos: A new encyclical from Pope Francis on the Heart of Jesus

Salvatore Cernozio – Vatican City

It is the fourth letter of Jorge Mario Bergoglio's papacy, and was issued by the Pope at one of the most dramatic moments for humanity. Brutal wars, social and economic imbalances, unbridled consumption, and new technologies that threaten to distort the essence of humanity are the hallmark of the modern age, the Pope calls for this in the document titled Delexit no (He Loved Us) invites us to change our point of view, perspective, and goals and to find what is most important and necessary: ​​the heart.

Pope's declaration

“Let's read it again and again and share it with Gesù Cristo”That is, “Encyclical on the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ” is the subtitle of the document, and its publication date of October 24 was announced on Monday by the Vatican Press Office.

Francis himself announced the publication in the fall to a general audience in St. Peter's Square on June 5 (the month traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus) and expressed his desire that the text would stimulate people to consider aspects “of contemplation of the Lord's love that can illuminate the path to ecclesiastical renewal.” But it may also say something important to a world that seems to have lost its heart. The Pope said on this occasion that the document “will combine precious reflections of previous judicial texts and a long history dating back to the Holy Bible, in order to propose today to the whole Church this worship imbued with spiritual beauty.”

Apparitions in 1673

The publication is being published as part of the commemorations of the 350th anniversary of the first revelation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1673, which runs from December 27, 2023 to June 27, 2025. Three and a half centuries ago, on December 27, Jesus appeared to a young French nun At just 26 years old, she was entrusted with the crucial task of spreading Jesus' love to people, especially sinners, throughout the world.

The apparitions continued at the Abbey of Paray-le-Monial in Burgundy for 17 years, where the Heart of Jesus appeared on a throne of flames surrounded by a crown of thorns, becoming a symbol of the wounds inflicted by people's sins. Christ asked Sister Margaret to dedicate the Friday after the Corpus Christi – eight days later – to the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This was not an easy task for the nun, who was met with incomprehension even by her colleagues and superiors, and was considered a visionary. Never discouraged, she dedicated her entire life to helping the world know the love of Christ.

The spread of worship

The Feast of the Sacred Heart was born on the eve of the Enlightenment. As Father Enrico Cattaneo, Professor Emeritus of the Fathers of the Church, wrote in La Civiltà Cattolica, “The spirituality of the heart of Christ was a barrier to the widespread rationalistic mentality that fueled the atheistic and anticlerical culture.” This veneration was hotly debated within the Church until Pius IX. In 1856, it was decided to extend the Feast of the Sacred Heart to include the entire church. In the nineteenth century, the cult spread like wildfire with ordinations, the founding of congregations of men and women, and the establishment of universities, oratories, and chapels.

Haurietis recognizes Pius XII.

the Published Haurietis Aquas by Pius XII It dates from 1956 and was written at a time when devotion to the Heart of Jesus was in crisis. In his encyclical, Eugenio Pacelli wanted to revive veneration and so called on the Church to understand and implement different forms of veneration that would be “of the utmost benefit” to the needs of the Church, but also a “banner of salvation” for the modern Church. world. In memory of Haoritis Aquas, Benedict Therefore, it is important to emphasize that the basis of this worship is as old as Christianity itself. -aquas.html

Francis' piety

Pope Francis has always shown a deep connection to the Sacred Heart and linked it to the mission of priests itself. In 2016, the Priestly Jubilee was concluded specifically on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and in his Mass sermon, the Pope called on the priests of the world who came to Rome to turn their hearts, like the good shepherd, to the lost sheep, targeting those far away and moving the center of the heart outward. Also on the Jubilee, in his first meditation on mercy, the Pope recommended that bishops and priests read “Haurietis aquas,” because “the heart of Christ is the center of mercy.” It is part of compassion to get its hands dirty, to touch, to become involved with the other…to be involved with the person, with his wound.

Fourth encyclical of the papacy

Dilexit nos is – as mentioned earlier – the fourth encyclical of Francis The cavity of faith (June 29, 2013), which he shared with Benedict XVI. books; Laudato Si' (May 24, 2015) About the environmental crisis and the necessity of preserving creation Fratelli everything (October 3, 2020), in which the Argentine Pope speaks of the necessity of fraternity and social friendship in a world torn by the Covid-19 pandemic, and today by wars and fratricidal conflicts, also waged in the name of God, torn apart.

Delexit no It will be presented on October 24 in the Vatican Press Room by Bruno Forti, theologian and Archbishop of Chieti Vasto, and Sister Antonella Fraccaro of the Disciples of the Gospel. The press conference will be broadcast live in the original language on the international YouTube channel Vatican Radio / Vatican News Flowing.