MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
FOR THE TENTH WORLD DAY OF THE POOR
XXXIII Sunday of
Ordinary Time, 15 November 2026
___________________________
The Lord is the
refuge of the poor (cf. Ps 14,6)
1. The Lord is a refuge for the
poor (cf. Ps 14:6). The words of the Psalmist point the way
forward as we prepare for the 10th World Day of the Poor. Once again, we must
return to the Word of God to reaffirm the importance of the poor in the life of
the Church. The words of the Psalm serve as a standard for Christian living
because they reveal the face of God and acknowledge human poverty. Indeed, at a
dramatic moment in history — the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem — the
people felt deprived of God’s presence and experienced unprecedented material
and moral misery.
To every generation, this Word
appears in all its relevance. From the very beginning, it reveals the
contradiction into which we still so often fall today. The first observation,
in fact, is this: “Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’ They are
corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good” (Ps 14:1).
It highlights the contrast between those who act wisely and those who, on the
other hand, go through life as if there were nothing greater than themselves.
Sadly, we see that even today there is widespread social injustice arising from
arrogant corruption, which is as deplorable as it is discriminatory. The loss
of a sense of the transcendent in daily life is no longer so much a theoretical
denial of God’s existence; rather, it is evident in the failure to take his
goodness and mercy into account in the pursuit of personal and social justice.
The poor are the first to suffer
the consequences, and it is no coincidence that their numbers are growing in
many societies. The absence of God no longer places people side by side in
mutual respect, but places one above the other in a relationship of domination
and oppression. Thus, a desecrating logic of abuse and exclusion is laid bare,
one that marginalizes and humiliates. Not only individuals but entire
populations find themselves in this condition. The words of the Psalm still
ring true: They “eat up my people as they eat bread” (Ps 14:4).
2. Today, the poor’s cry for
justice is silenced by a multitude of increasingly subtle tactics, to the point
of rendering voiceless their every effort to make their demands heard. The
digital world exacerbates prejudice against them and reinforces the veil of
indifference surrounding their plight. The poor have no choice but to cry out
to God (cf. Ps 34:7) and bring their lament before him,
certain that they will be heard because God is faithful and rich in mercy. Even
today, those who are oppressed, humiliated and defenseless grow in the
certainty that they must entrust themselves to God, filled with faith and
expectation. In this complete surrender, a sense of one’s own dignity blossoms
anew; they recognize sisters and brothers with whom to share their dreams, and
hope quietly becomes reality. Taking refuge in God means finding true and
lasting protection — the kind that the powerful cannot guarantee and prefer to
deny.
The poor, however, are more able
than others to recognize what is essential, because they live on the
essentials. More like Christ than anyone else, they recognize God as their
refuge even when circumstances seem to contradict this, and they are filled
with hope for his justice, which will not be long in coming. In the night of
abandonment and loneliness, the poor “live in the shelter of the Most High”
(cf. Ps 91:1). All who are afflicted, all who suffer injustice
and are wronged, all who are in suffering and pain, all who are lonely and
without a sense of purpose in life can find consolation and renewed motivation
in the Lord.
3. That God is their refuge is
not merely a promise; it becomes a reality in the person of Jesus Christ. God
dwells among us through the Incarnation of the Son, who makes concrete and
visible the refuge for which we hope. Jesus Christ is truly God’s refuge for
the poor. Through his obedience to the Father, he descends to the lowest point,
where the least of these are found. He reaches out to everyone and offers each
a safe refuge: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy
burdens, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). In Jesus, God not
only protects but shares in human poverty all the way to the cross.
The poor of our day are the
forgotten and the marginalized: robbed not only of bread, but also of a voice
and a face. May they encounter the Son of God, who draws near to everyone
without neglecting anyone. May they encounter him, first and foremost, in those
who call themselves Christians. In the Church, his Body, it is Jesus who offers
bread and friendship; he brings light and opens a horizon of hope; he calls
each person by name and restores dignity to all. Jesus of Nazareth is God’s
gift to the poor. In him, all promises become reality. For those who lack a
home, a job, education, food or good health, a new path opens: sharing as an
expression of the Kingdom of God (cf. Mt 5:3). The obsession
of those who accumulate wealth only for themselves is opposed by God’s
steadfastness which, through the witness of real people, opens hearts and
welcomes all into his love.
4. In Christ, therefore, we are
called to become poor and to be a refuge for the poor. The Christian community
cannot remain indifferent to the many who today stand at the door but remain
invisible to those who are shut within their own walls. The Church, by its very
nature, is called to be poor and a refuge for the poor. Let us not forget Saint
Augustine’s commentary on the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus: “He has
kept the name of the rich man to himself and told us the name of the poor man.
The name of the rich man was on everyone’s lips, but God kept it to himself;
the name of the poor man was passed over in silence, but God revealed it to us.
… What would you choose? To be poor like Lazarus or rich like the other man? Do
not be deceived! Listen to how it ended and take note of which is the wrong
choice” (Sermon 33A, 4).
As I recalled in the Apostolic
Exhortation Dilexi
Te, “God shows a preference for the poor: the Lord’s words of hope and
liberation are addressed first of all to them. Therefore, even in their poverty
or weakness, no one should feel abandoned. And the Church, if she wants to be
Christ’s Church, must be a Church of the Beatitudes, one that makes room for
the little ones and walks poor with the poor, a place where the poor have a
privileged place” (no.
21).
Certain questions inevitably
arise, and on this 10th World Day of the Poor, we urgently need to let them
resonate in our minds and hearts. Are we a sign of a God who is a refuge for
the poor? Are we aware of our own poverty, and do we prefer it to unjust wealth?
Do we go where the poor are, experiencing their marginalization? Do we listen
to their thoughts and share their hopes? Do we speak their names with divine
tenderness? Does our charity reawaken and sustain in them the desire for
justice and redemption? These and many other questions call for a serious
examination of conscience, to assess how much more we are called to do on
behalf of the poor and for their liberation. Then we will see that the poor
themselves become a refuge for others. The experience of poverty makes them
particularly sensitive to a renewed solidarity in the face of challenges.
Christ’s love, in fact, makes us
sharers in God’s life of love. In this sense, Christians are called not only to
seek refuge in God, but also to become a refuge for others in God, “not to
distinguish between those who assist and those who are assisted, between those
who seem to give and those who seem to receive, between those who appear poor
and those who feel they offer time, skills and help. We are the Lord’s Church,
a Church of the poor, all precious, all individuals, each one a bearer of a
unique Word of God. Each one is a gift for the others. ” (Homily,
August 17, 2025).
5. The eighth centenary of the
death of Saint Francis of Assisi prompts us to recall how, upon arriving in
Rome as a pilgrim to the tomb of the Apostle Peter, he was moved with
compassion for the beggars. To understand and experience their suffering, he
took off his own clothes and exchanged them for the ragged garments of one of
them, sitting down to beg and spending the entire day among the poor with a
joyful spirit (cf. Fonti Francescane, 1405–1406). We wish to bear
witness that it is possible, even today, to experience the same joy by putting
ourselves in the shoes of the poor and listening to them rather than merely
speaking about them. Those who have God as their refuge have the freedom to
make prophetic choices, which testify to the fact that everything can be
reimagined from the ground up, in the humility and fraternity that alone can
heal a world wounded by arrogance.
I am confident that this 10th
World Day of the Poor will serve as a significant step toward rediscovering the
faces of so many brothers and sisters who seek refuge in God and long to feel
at home in our communities. Let us remain faithful to the Word of God, which
calls us to a conversion of heart. May the Virgin Mary, who in the crucified
flesh of her Son contemplated the love of God that fills the hungry with good
things and sends the rich away empty-handed (cf. Lk 1:53),
intercede for us.
From the Vatican, 13 June
2026, Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua.
LEO PP. XIV
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