Dilexit Nos: Getting to the Heart of the Matter with Pope Francis

Greg Marcar is a senior researcher at the Nathaniel Bioethics Centre for Bioethics, Te Kupenga, and a research affiliate at the Centre for Theology and Public Issues (CTPI), University of Otago (New Zealand). He is a coeditor of Søren Kierkegaard: Theologian of the Gospel (Wipf & Stock 2021) and Security, Religion, and the Rule of Law: International Perspectives (Routledge 2023). This post is based on Marcar’s contribution to The Nathaniel Report 74 (2024).

Almost 20 years ago, Pope Benedict XVI published his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (“God Is Love”) (DC 2005). In this encyclical, Benedict XVI referred to a Christian faith as one that “sees the love of God revealed in the pierced heart of Jesus on the Cross” and “gives rise to love” (DC, para. 39). In his latest encyclical, Dilexit Nos (“He Loved Us”) (DN) published on 24 October 2024, Pope Francis continues his predecessor’s focus on divine and human love, as revealed most clearly in the heart of Jesus.

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Infinite Love and the (In)dignity of Christ: Reflections on Francis’s Theology of Infinite Human Dignity from Infinite Divine Love

Greg Marcar is a research affiliate and teaching fellow at the Centre for Theology and Public Issues (CTPI), University of Otago (New Zealand). He is a co-editor of Søren Kierkegaard: Theologian of the Gospel (Wipf & Stock 2021) and  Security, Religion, and the Rule of Law: International Perspectives (Routledge 2023).

Dignity and Its Discontents: A Foundationless Foundation?

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) begins with the assertion that “[a]ll human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights . . . and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” One of the co-drafters of the UDHR, René Cassin, likened its Preamble and Articles to the parts of a temple portico, with Article 1’s affirmation of dignity, liberty, equality, and fraternity forming the foundation block of this structure.

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The Pope and the War

This series explores how Pope Francis as the head of the Catholic Church and the Vatican deals with the Russia-Ukraine war.

Many observers call the Pope’s approach ambiguous.

On the one hand, the Catholic Church has provided humanitarian support to Ukrainians affected by the war from its very beginning in 2014. For example, from 2016 to 2018 the Catholic Church raised almost €16 million through the “Pope for Ukraine” initiative and funded several programs for internally displaced people and those living in the combat zone. Such programs provided mobile health clinics, food vouchers, and psychological help for adults and minors; and repaired and insulated houses damaged by the war. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Pope Francis has made several public speeches and gestures in support of Ukrainian victims of the war and has tried to advance humanitarian efforts—including attempts to facilitate the return to Ukraine of Ukrainian children deported by Russia—and to highlight the moral catastrophe of the Bucha massacre and similar crimes.

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