An encyclical is a formal and circular letter that the Pope sends to all men and women of goodwill. It is an instrument through which the Pope sets forth his teaching and Catholic doctrine, which is based on sacred scripture and the tradition of the Church and which addresses issues of faith, morality, or current ecclesial and world affairs, to enlighten, guide, and encourage in the religious experience – especially – ordained ministers and lay people of the Catholic world.

Pope Francis has written four encyclical letters. The fourth, entitled “Dilexit nos” (He loved us) was published on October 24, 2024, and deals with THE HUMAN AND DIVINE LOVE OF THE HEART OF JESUS ​​CHRIST. I reflect on this encyclical in this article.

Although during his eleven years of pontificate, some have tried – from different sides and for different interests – to pigeonhole the teaching of Pope Francis as conservative or liberal, as right-wing or left-wing; the truth is that the first Jesuit and Latin American Pope does not admit classifications or prefabricated labels. And if any label fits him and would be the right one for his human, Christian, and pastoral stature, it is that of being a Pope attached to the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Throughout his ministry and Petrine’s teaching, Francis exhorts and encourages us all to return to the gospel, to connect with the teaching of Jesus, to replicate in our lives the lifestyle of the man from Nazareth, and to live our lives in the search to build the same purpose and commitment that animated the life of Jesus: to make present in the world the reign of God, his sovereignty.

This permanent commitment, tied to the core of the gospel, is once again shown to us by Francis in “Dilexit nos”. Because if Christian life consists in experiencing the love of God the Father for us, revealed in the deeds and words of the Son, in order to – from that same love and in the same measure – love one another as brothers, children of the same Father, then this, his fourth encyclical, deals with the very core and marrow of the life and teaching of the Master of Nazareth, to whom we confess our “Way, Truth and Life” and with the journey of faith of all the disciples of Christ.

Because Dilexit nos, deals with the love of God, of his will and command for all, made a synthesis in the life of Jesus: the new commandment of love. Commandment of love that is a program of life for each disciple and a path to build the world according to the will of God.

Dilexit nos is structured as follows: 220 numbers that correspond to an introduction, a conclusion and five large chapters, as follows:

The first chapter is entitled: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HEART (numbers 2 to 31), in which the Pope presents the love of the Triune God, manifested in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as the center of Christian and ecclesial life; love that urgently needs to be experienced, lived and shared today by every human being and by all humanity. The Pope also reflects on the importance of the human heart, the center of the person and on the transformation that the love of God, through Jesus, works in it.

The second chapter is entitled: GESTURES AND WORDS OF LOVE (numbers 32 to 47) and presents the gestures, the look and the words of the Heart of Jesus, recorded in the gospels, which reveal the love of God for us and which are the origin and foundation of our Christian faith.

The third chapter is entitled: THIS IS THE HEART THAT SO LOVED (numbers 48 to 91). Here, the Pope delves into the theological meaning of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, of its relationship with the Triune God – community of love – and the importance of devotion to the Sacred Heart, symbol of God’s love for us.

The fourth chapter is entitled: LOVE THAT GIVES TO DRINK (numbers 92 to 163). Through the reading of texts from sacred scripture, from the tradition of the Church and from important figures in it, the Pope finds and presents the love of God as the origin, center and driving force of ecclesial life, called to be a sign of God’s love in the world, being a community of love, forgiveness and service for all.

The fifth and final chapter is entitled: LOVE FOR LOVE (numbers 164 to 216) and in it, the Pope addresses the great challenges of humanity and exhorts and encourages us to the daily and permanent experience of God’s love as a healing and saving response to these great challenges.

In conclusion, I echo the Pope’s own conclusion in his encyclical: I invite everyone to know, read and live the teaching of this encyclical. That is, to love everyone with the same love with which God loves us. With the awareness that the evil and the evils of our personal, family and social histories always have, as their origin and common cause, the absence of God’s love in us.

And, at the same time, that the construction of a happy and better life, society and world is only possible through human relationships founded on the love of God lived and shared among all of us.

For which it is urgent, above all, to be able to experience the love of God in the everyday of our lives. Love that gives us life, that encourages us, that forgives us, that does not forget us, that does not abandon us, that sustains us, that gives us certainty, truth and confidence, that gives us joy and hope, because He loved us first (1 Jn 4:19).