Fr. Łukasz Bankowski – Vatican
The cry of the poor is being silenced today
This year’s message for the World Day of the Poor is titled “The Lord is the refuge of the poor.” Leo XIV recalled that the poor hold a special place in the life of the Church, and the attitude towards them becomes a test of the authenticity of Christian life.
The Pope noted that social injustice, corruption, and various forms of exclusion are growing in the contemporary world. As he pointed out, the poorest people are the first to bear the consequences of these phenomena.
“The cry of the poor for justice is being suppressed today in many, increasingly insidious ways,” wrote the Holy Father. He added that the digital environment often deepens prejudices against the poor and strengthens the veil of indifference around their problems.
Robbed of their bread, voice and face
Leo XIV emphasized that poverty does not only mean a lack of material resources. Increasingly, it is associated with the loss of dignity, the ability to participate in social life, or influence over one’s own destiny: “The poor of our times are forgotten and marginalized: robbed not only of bread, but also of voice and face.”
He pointed out that this group includes people deprived of home, work, education, access to healthcare, as well as all those who feel invisible to society. He recalled that in Jesus Christ, God became close to precisely such people.
Jesus is a refuge for the poor
The central message of the address is the truth that God does not remain indifferent to human suffering. Leo XIV emphasized that in Jesus Christ, the promise of God’s closeness became a reality.
“Jesus Christ is truly God’s refuge for the poor,” he wrote, recalling that the Son of God descended to the rejected, suffering, and forgotten to restore their hope and dignity.
The Holy Father noted that lonely, humiliated individuals, those deprived of meaning in life, or affected by injustice can find comfort and strength for their journey in Christ.
The Church must be poor with the poor
Leo XIV recalled that the Church cannot limit itself to speaking about the poor but should become a real refuge for them. He emphasized that the Christian community is called to reach out to those who remain on the margins of society.
Quoting his apostolic exhortation Dilexi te, the Pope wrote that “the Church, if it wants to be Christ’s, must be the Church of the Beatitudes, a Church that makes room for the little ones and walks poor with the poor, a place where the poor have a privileged position.”
The Holy Father also posed a series of questions addressed to the consciences of believers. He asked, among other things, whether Christians truly reach out to the poor, know their names, listen to their stories, and share their expectations.
The world is mended through humility and fraternity
In the final part of the message, Leo XIV referred to the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, which falls this year. He recalled an event from the life of the Poor Man, who exchanged his clothes for a beggar’s rags and spent the whole day asking for alms to personally experience the fate of the poor.
The Pope indicated that even today, there is a need not only for material help but, above all, for closeness and a willingness to listen. He encouraged the faithful to put themselves in the situation of the poor and get to know their lives from within, instead of merely talking about them.
Leo XIV expressed hope that the 10th World Day of the Poor would become an opportunity to rediscover the faces of people who seek refuge in God and wish to find a place in Christian communities. He emphasized that a world wounded by egoism and the logic of power can only be renewed through humility, fraternity, and solidarity with the weakest.
