The Press Office of the Holy See published last Sunday the 14th the message of Pope Leo XIV for the tenth edition of the World Day of the Poor, which will be celebrated next November 15, under the motto "The Lord is the refuge of the poor."

Leo XIV denounces the "arrogant corruption" that generates social injustice and places people "some above others in the name of dominance and oppression." He encourages listening to those in need, rather than just talking about them. The message bears the date of June 13, memory of Saint Anthony of Padua, patron saint of the poor.

Read the message below.

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER LEON 14.6)

1. The Lord is the refuge of the poor (cf. Ps 14,6). The words of the Psalmist suggest the path we are called to follow in view of the X World Day of the Poor. Once again it is necessary to return to the Word of God to verify the importance that the poor have in the life of the Church. The expression of the psalm becomes a criterion of judgment for Christian existence because it reveals the face of God and recognizes human poverty. Indeed, in a dramatic historical moment, such as the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, the people felt deprived of the presence of God and experienced unprecedented material and moral misery.

This Word is presented to each generation in all its relevance. From the beginning it shows the contradiction that still often falls into today. The first confirmation is this: «The fool says to himself: “There is no God.” They have corrupted themselves by committing execrations, there is no one who does good” (Ps 14,1). This highlights the contrast between those who behave wisely and those who, on the other hand, drag their lives as if there were nothing above them. We can see, unfortunately, how widespread a social injustice that springs from arrogant corruption, as deplorable as it is discriminatory, is today. The loss of the sense of transcendence in everyday life is no longer so much a theoretical denial of the existence of God; rather it is manifested in the lack of consideration of His goodness and mercy for the construction of personal and social justice.

The first to suffer its consequences are the poor, who, not by chance, increase in many societies. The absence of God places people no longer alongside others in reciprocal respect, but rather one above another under the sign of dominance and submission. Thus a desacralizing logic of prevarication and discarding that marginalizes and humiliates is exhibited. Not only individual people, but entire peoples find themselves in this condition. The words of the psalm still resonate full of truth: "They devour my people like bread" (Ps 14,4).

2. The cry for justice of the poor today is silenced through multiple techniques, increasingly subtle, until all their efforts to make their requests heard are rendered voiceless. The digital environment radicalizes prejudice towards them and increases the curtain of indifference that surrounds its causes. The poor man has nothing left but to cry out to God (cf. Ps 34,7) and make his lament reach Him, with the certainty of being heard because God is faithful and rich in mercy. Those who are oppressed, humiliated and defenseless also grow today in the certainty of having to abandon themselves to God, loaded with trust and expectation. In this total abandonment, the sense of one's own dignity flourishes again, sisters and brothers are recognized with whom to organize their dreams, and hope silently becomes reality. Taking refuge in God is equivalent to finding true and safe protection, that which the powerful cannot guarantee and prefer to deny.

The poor, however, know how to recognize what is essential more than others, because they live on what is essential. More like Christ than all, he recognizes God as his own refuge even when circumstances seem to contradict him, and he is filled with hope for his justice, which soon manifests itself. In the night of abandonment and loneliness, the poor “dwell under the protection of the Most High” (cf. Ps 91,1). Those who are afflicted, those who suffer injustice and are offended, those who suffer suffering and pain, those who are alone and deprived of the meaning of life can find comfort and new motivation with the Lord.

3. Being a refuge is not just a promise, but it becomes a reality in the person of Jesus Christ. God places his dwelling among us with the incarnation of the Son, who makes the expected refuge concrete and visible. Jesus Christ is truly God's refuge for the poor. Through his obedience to the Father, he descends to the lowest point, where the last are found. He goes out to meet everyone and offers safe refuge to each: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you relief” (Mt 11:28). In Jesus, God not only protects, but shares human poverty even to the cross.

The poor of our days are the forgotten and the marginalized: stripped of a word and a face, in addition to bread. May they find the Son of God, who becomes a neighbor to all without neglecting anyone. May they find it, above all, in those who call themselves Christians. In the Church, his Body, it is Jesus who offers bread and friendship; brings light and a horizon of hope; pronounce the name of each one and restore everyone's dignity. Jesus of Nazareth is God's gift to the poor. In Him all promises come true. For those who lack a home, a job, education, food, health, a new path opens up: 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 the obstinacy of God who, in the testimony of people of flesh and blood, opens the heart and welcomes them in his love.

4. In Christ, therefore, we too are called to become poor and to become a refuge for the poor. The Christian community cannot remain insensitive to so many who today are at the door and remain invisible to those who remain locked 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 comment on the parable of the rich man and the poor Lazarus: «He kept silent about the name of the rich man and indicated that of the beggar. God silenced the much-touted name of the first; However, he revealed the second […] What would you choose: to be poor like the one or to be like the rich one? Do not be deceived: listen to what the end of both was and notice which is the wrong choice» (Sermon 33A, 4).

As I recalled in the Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te, «God shows predilection towards the poor, the word of hope and liberation of the Lord is addressed to them and, therefore, even in the condition of poverty or weakness, no one should feel abandoned. And the Church, if it wants to be of Christ, must be the Church of the Beatitudes, a Church that makes room for the little ones and walks in poverty with the poor, a place in which the poor have a privileged place» (n. 21).

Some questions inevitably arise, which on this X World Day of the Poor we have the urgency to make 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 poverty and do we prefer it to unjust wealth? Do we reach where the poor are, experiencing their marginality? Do we listen to their thoughts and share their hopes? Do we pronounce their names with divine tenderness? Does our charity reactivate and sustain in them the desire for justice and rescue? These and many other questions require a serious examination of conscience, to verify how much we are still called to become in favor of the poor and their liberation. Then we will see that the poor themselves become a refuge for others. The experience of poverty makes us particularly sensitive to renewed solidarity in the face of challenges.

The love of Christ makes us, in effect, participants in God's life of love. In this sense, Christians are called not only to seek refuge in God, but also to become, in Him, refuge for others, without "distinguishing between the one who assists and the one who is assisted, between the one who seems to give and the one who seems to receive, between the one who presents himself as poor and the one who feels the need to offer time, skills and help. We are the Church of the Lord, a Church of the poor, all precious, all participants, each one bearer of a unique Word of God. Each one is a gift for others» (Homily, August 17, 2025).

5. The eighth centenary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi prompts us to remember how, arriving in Rome as a pilgrim to the tomb of the Apostle Peter, he was moved by compassion for beggars. To understand and experience their suffering, he took off his own clothes and exchanged them for the tattered clothes of one of them, sitting down to beg and spending the whole day among the poor with joy of spirit (cf. Franciscan Sources, 1405-1406). We want to testify that it is possible, today too, to experience the same joy by putting yourself in the place of the poor and listening to them, instead of just talking about them. Whoever has God as a refuge is free to make prophetic decisions, which testify to how everything can be rethought from below, in humility and fraternity that, only they, repair a world wounded by arrogance.

I trust that this X World Day of the Poor can constitute a significant stage in rediscovering the face of so many brothers and sisters who seek refuge in God and wish to feel at home in our communities. Let us keep alive obedience to the Word of God, which provokes the conversion of the heart. May the Virgin Mary, who in the crucified flesh of the 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.

Vatican, June 13, 2026, memory of Saint Anthony of Padua.

LEON PP. XIV