Sister Alessandra Smerilli FMA, Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD), visited the Piccola Casa- Cottolengo in Turin to present the apostolic exhortation Dilexi te, on love for the poor, signed by Pope Leo XIV on October 4, 2025.
The Fratel Luigi Bordino Hall of the Piccola Casa in Turin was filled with the Cottolenghina Family, together with numerous religious men and women from other congregations, various ecclesial movements, and faithful from the Diocese of Turin.
Father Carmine Arice, Father General of the Piccola Casa, who introduced the meeting, explained how the document “is particularly valuable for the Cottolenghina Family precisely because it speaks of the evangelical mission of the Piccola Casa della Divina Provvidenza founded by Saint Cottolengo”.
Sister Smerilli explained that the text invites us “to perceive the connection that exists between the love of Christ and the call to be close to the poor.” The Secretary of the DPIHD then recalled some elements against which Dilexi te warns us: the culture of excessive accumulation, unjust economic systems, exclusion, and above all, social indifference. “The condition of the poor represents a cry that constantly challenges our lives and the Church”, Smerilli recalled, reiterating that “we must not lower our guard on poverty”, especially now that, after years of progress, she observed, “ we are going backwards: we are seeing an increase in poverty and inequality.”
The Secretary concluded her speech with Pope Leo’s appeal to allow ourselves to be evangelized by the poor: « A Church that sets no limits on love, that knows no enemies to fight, but only men and women to love, is the Church that the world needs today ».
