When Pope Leo issued the first major document of his pontificate, he presented a big challenge to catechumenate teams. His apostolic exhortation, Dilexi te (“I have loved you”), is essentially an introduction to the rich tradition of Catholic Social Teaching. This is a teachable moment that we can use to introduce Catholic Social Teaching to our seekers. Unfortunately, however, many Catholics — even seasoned team members — may not know much about the church’s social teaching.

You can, of course, find a lot of YouTube videos that explain the church’s social teaching. And some of them might be helpful for your own background. However, I wouldn’t recommend videos or handouts or a reading list as the primary way to introduce seekers to this crucial aspect of church doctrine. Effective faith formation works best in an apprenticeship model, which means seekers will best learn what it means to be a disciple by imitating other disciples.

How, then, do we introduce the vast principles of Catholic Social Teaching in a way that aligns with the apprenticeship model and ensures seekers receive a foundation suitable for living as missionary disciples?

Establishing the theological framework

Pope Leo XIV intentionally chose his name to honor Pope Leo XIII, who wrote the foundational text for modern Catholic Social Teaching with his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum.

Pope Leo XIII’s main point in that document is that faith compels us to care about justice and human flourishing in the here and now. He dismantled the false teaching that a fully human life, filled with love, dignity, and joy, happens only in the afterlife. Leo XIII, who lived in a world dealing with the dehumanizing effects of the Industrial Revolution, said that our job as Catholics is to promote the common good, resolving social issues, and helping the weakest and most disadvantaged among us.

Our job as Catholics is to promote the common good, resolving social issues, and helping the weakest and most disadvantaged among us.

Dilexi te: The foundational prerequisite

Pope Leo XIV amplifies that teaching in Dilexi te. His core, simple message is this: Caring for the poor is not merely a consequence of faith, but a prerequisite of faith itself, and an essential aspect of the church’s mission.

This commitment is crucial for seekers because it is rooted in encountering Christ. Pope Leo XIV teaches that our commitment to the poor, including living with them, is the place where we receive revelation and the gospel.

Pope Leo XIV says that contact with the poor, lowly, and powerless is a fundamental way of encountering Jesus Christ.

So here is where apprenticeship formation can come into play. We don’t need to ask the seekers to read Rerum Novarum or Dilexi te to understand what it means to love the poor. They won’t learn to love the poor by watching a video or listening to a lecture. They will learn to love the poor by serving the poor right alongside their fellow parishioners. The action and example of your parishioners will teach the seekers the core principles of Catholic Social Teaching.

Defining poverty broadly

One key element of Catholic Social Teaching, which Pope Leo XIV highlights, is that “poverty” is much broader than material poverty. Those who lack adequate food and shelter have to be at the top of our priority list. But when the church speaks about “the poor,” we also mean those:

• who lack material means of subsistence
• who are socially marginalized and lonely
• who are morally and spiritually poor
• who suffer from cultural poverty
• who lack the means to give a voice to their dignity and abilities
• who have no rights, space, or freedom (see Dilexi te, 9)

This broad understanding is essential because we see Christ identifying with the poor who have been pushed to the peripheries of society. Likewise, the seekers need to learn how to identify themselves with all those in society who are alone, marginalized, or otherwise suffering from a lack of dignity or freedom.

Seekers need to learn how to identify themselves with all those in society who are alone, marginalized, or otherwise suffering from a lack of dignity or freedom.

Connecting to the apprenticeship model

As we said earlier, since the commitment to the poor is a prerequisite for faith, that commitment is established in the lives of the seekers through lived example. It cannot simply be discussed as an abstract concept.

The catechumenate team and the entire parish must embody the spirit of the church. We have to demonstrate our love and compassion even for those whom we have difficulty loving.

We don’t have to be perfect at this, but we do need to demonstrate real, progressive change toward creating a more just and compassionate world — starting with our own hearts. The catechumenate is meant to foster a “progressive change of outlook and morals, [which] must become evident in its social consequences” (OCIA 75.2).

The deepest themes of Catholic Social Teaching — such as justice, solidarity, human dignity, and the necessity of structural change — are only truly clear to seekers after they have embraced this foundational prerequisite of encountering Christ and receiving revelation through caring for the poor.

In a future article, we will explore some practical ways for teaching these deeper Catholic Social Teaching principles using the apprenticeship model and mystagogical catechesis, moving seekers from personal charity to addressing structural injustice.

Your input matters!

The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults says that catechumens must be formed to foster a progressive change in outlook and morals, growing accustomed to “showing charity to their neighbor even to renunciation of themselves” (75.2).

Please share your thoughts:

1. What steps are most crucial for helping seekers grow accustomed to “showing charity to their neighbor even to renunciation of themselves” (OCIA 75.2)?
2. Share your comments below on how we can best implement this foundational prerequisite so that the deeper themes of Catholic Social Teaching — such as justice, solidarity, and the necessity of structural change — become clear and compelling to seekers.