Dilexi te
One thing that strikes me on a first reading of Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic exhortation Dilexi te, issued today, is its section on monastic life. In an inspired reading of the Rule of St Benedict, the Holy Father says that the monks of Antiquity enabled the formation of a ‘pedagogy of inclusion’ by ‘forming consciences and transmitting wisdom’ through a sharing of culture. The word ‘inclusion’ is bandied about a lot these days, often without a clear idea of what anyone’s proposing to include others in. The notion that inclusion is a form of hospitality born of a community covenant with a view to producing a transformed society is valuable, constructive.
