We are celebrating the first anniversary of the Petrine ministry of our beloved Leo XIV amidst the faith, love, and hope of peoples and churches in the face of polarization, evils, injustices, fundamentalisms, integrisms, relativisms, ideologizations, and distortions of the faith itself. The Pope has indicated the transcendence and importance of an integral education and formation “capable of reading the times, of safeguarding the unity between faith and reason, between thought and life, between knowledge and justice. In the storm, they have been an anchor of salvation; and in the calm, a sail unfurled. A lighthouse in the night to guide our navigation” (DNME 1).

Thus, following the Tradition and Magisterium of previous popes, in a recent  address  Leo XIV highlighted the threat of denying “the very existence of objective truth” (Consistory Hall, May 11, 2026). In this regard, the pope emphasized this unity in faith, truth, and morality, universal fraternal love, and justice for the poor of the earth. This is how God reveals and embodies himself in Jesus Christ with his Kingdom of liberating and integral salvation (cf. INF 1-2), in line with other popes such as Benedict XVI in DCE and CIV, and Francis in LS and FT. “Faith, worship, and  ethos  interpenetrate each other as a single reality, which is configured in the encounter with  God’s agape  ” (DCE 14).

As we have observed, faith, morality, and the entire constitutive social doctrine of the Church (SDC) guide true theology and pastoral practice (praxis) inspired by that faith, as transmitted by Tradition and taught by the Magisterium of the Church through the Popes. Therefore, following Jesus, the order of faith and charity  (love), with this morality always united to the SDC, as Vatican II already points out, promotes  Samaritan spirituality, culture, and ethics:  with  the civilization of love  and the most universal common good, which encompasses and includes universally, really, and concretely all human beings, the entire human family, each person (cf. DC 15, CIV 7, and FT 62); with that priority of merciful and compassionate love in the face of the suffering, evil, and injustice endured by humanity, peoples, victims, and the least among us, as is manifested in the  preferential option for the poor . Against all exclusionary localism and nationalism, against corporatism and uncompassionate individualism.

This is what all this Tradition and truth of the faith and Church teaches us, with its morality and Catholic Social Teaching. For example, Saint Thomas Aquinas points out this broader  or  universal charity and that the common good is inherently  diffusive:  it must extend throughout all of reality; reaffirming the priority of the needs of peoples, of the poor, and of the universal destination of goods, above property and the injustice of wealth—being rich (Cf.  S. Th.  II-II, q. 66, a. 7;  Vita , 36), or Saint Augustine himself with his theology of history. In this regard, Benedict XVI teaches that “the action of man on earth, when inspired and sustained by charity, contributes to the building up of that  universal city of God  towards which the history of the human family is advancing. In a society undergoing globalization, the common good and the effort for it must necessarily encompass the whole human family, that is, the community of peoples and nations , thus giving form to the city of man  in terms of unity and peace  , and making it in a certain measure an anticipation that prefigures the city of God without barriers” (CIV 7).

In this regard, as can be seen, moral and social issues are global, they have become globalized, especially in our time, which makes this entire civilization of love and the most universal common good, the essential  political charity, even more necessary and indispensable.  Solidarity and social and international justice with all humanity, in this preferential option for the poor, for workers, for our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters, for indigenous peoples, for popular movements seeking the three  T’s:  land, housing, and work, etc. This has already been highlighted in the Magisterium and Social Doctrine of the Church of St. John XXIII with Vatican II, especially in the teaching on integral human development of St. Paul VI (PP), St. John Paul II (SRS) in conjunction with his message on human work (LE), and Benedict XVI (CIV). And it has been continued by Francis with integral ecology in LS, QA, and FT, with his universal fraternity. And currently, Leo XIV in DT, who in this important teaching highlights how “charity is a force that changes reality, a true historical power of change. It is the source to which every commitment to ‘resolve the structural causes of poverty’ must refer… Christian love overcomes every barrier, draws near to the distant, gathers strangers, crosses humanly insurmountable abysses, penetrates the most hidden corners. By its nature, Christian love is prophetic, it has no limits” (DT 91 and 120).

Therefore, the truth of faith and morals, as expressed in Catholic Social Teaching, transmits the  natural-divine law and human nature with its integral anthropology, promoting these inalienable and  non-negotiable values ​​and principles  to guide and illuminate all of human, social, and historical reality. This includes the sacred and inviolable life and dignity of every person, of the poor and the victims, in all its phases from conception to natural death: of the unborn child; of that real, faithful love between a man and a woman that is fruitful and open to life through children, forming marriage and family; of the elderly; of the worker…

As Leo XXIV stated in another memorable  address  , “The pursuit of peace requires the practice of justice. As I have already had occasion to point out, I chose my name thinking primarily of  Leo XIII , the Pope of the first great social encyclical,  Rerum novarum . In this era of change in which we are living, faith and the Church cannot refrain from making their voices heard in the face of the numerous imbalances and injustices that lead, among other things, to undignified working conditions and increasingly fragmented and conflictive societies. It is also necessary to strive to remedy global inequalities, which carve deep furrows of opulence and indigence between continents, countries, and even within societies themselves.”

It is our task and responsibility to strive to build harmonious and peaceful civil societies. This can be achieved above all by investing in the family, founded on the stable union between man and woman, “a small one, it is true, but a true society and older than any other.” Furthermore, no one can be exempt from fostering environments that protect the dignity of every person, especially the most vulnerable and defenseless, from the unborn child to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, whether citizens or immigrants” (Clementine Hall, 16-05-2005).