ope Leo XIV on Thursday issued his first official dogma document, the Apostolic Exhortation “Dilexi te,” (He Loved You), a wide-ranging call to address poverty in all its forms that embraces a project begun by Pope Francis.

“I am convinced that the priority option for the poor generates extraordinary renewal both in the Church and in society, when we are capable of freeing ourselves from self-absorption and are able to listen to their cry,” writes Leo in the foreword.

The document addresses all forms of poverty, from economic to educational, from the sick to prisoners, encompassing all the most vulnerable groups in society.

In the document, Leo says Pope, the cry of the poor challenges us all and stresses that the responses remain insufficient, with too many inequalities.

“The plight of the poor represents a cry that, throughout human history, constantly challenges our lives, our societies, our political and economic systems, and, not least, the Church,” says the American pontiff.

” On the wounded faces of the poor, we find imprinted the suffering of the innocent and, therefore, the very suffering of Christ.” The pope emphasizes that poverty is diverse: material, moral, and cultural.

“Commitment to the poor” remains “insufficient,” political criteria are “marked by numerous inequalities, and therefore, to old forms of poverty” are added “new ones, sometimes more subtle and dangerous.”