Pope Leo XIV began his second day in France this Saturday, September 26, with a visit to the Maison Bakhita in Paris, a center for social accompaniment and integration where he affirmed the dignity of the most vulnerable and recalled that Christian charity does not consist solely in assisting those in need, but also in recognizing what each person can contribute.
The meeting marks the first public engagement of a day that will continue at the Institut Catholique of Paris, with members of the Provincial Synodal Assembly, catechumens and neophytes, and will conclude in the French capital with the Mass that Pope Leo XIV will celebrate this afternoon in the Place de la Concorde before traveling to Lourdes.
“No one is so poor that they have nothing to give”
The Pope focused much of his greeting on the reciprocity that must characterize Christian charity. Pope Leo XIV maintained that no person finds themselves in a situation of absolute poverty that prevents them from offering something to others, and that, likewise, no one possesses so much that they do not need to receive from another.
From this perspective, the Pontiff presented the encounter with one’s neighbor not as a unilateral relationship between the one who helps and the one who receives help, but as an exchange of gifts in which the presence of the other can also become a place of encounter with God.
The reflection came after hearing the testimonies of an Afghan refugee, a person assisted by the association À Bras Ouverts, and another linked to Aux Captifs la Libération.
Before the interventions, Pope Leo XIV had unveiled a commemorative plaque inside the center.
The poor and the Incarnation of Christ
Pope Leo XIV directly linked service to the poor with the mystery of the Incarnation.
Citing the apostolic exhortation Dilexi te, he recalled that for Christians the poor cannot be reduced to a mere sociological category, because in them Christ in need is made present in a particular way.
The Pope insisted that faith in the Incarnation cannot remain in the realm of an abstract affirmation.
Recognizing Christ made flesh also implies recognizing him in those who hunger or thirst, are sick, deprived of freedom, or going through situations of abandonment and vulnerability.
Hence, charity, he noted, requires stepping out of oneself and concretely approaching those who need welcome, listening, formation, and friendship.
Saint Josephine Bakhita and those who “are not seen”
The Pontiff took as his reference Saint Josephine Bakhita, after whom the center is named, to recall the Christian obligation to pay attention to those who remain invisible and to those whom contemporary economic and cultural dynamics subject to new forms of slavery.
Pope Leo XIV also highlighted, drawing on the figure of the Sudanese saint, the role of women in building a “civilization of love” in the face of a culture that, he warned, disintegrates communities and fosters loneliness in cities.
The Pope also contrasted two ways of leaving a mark on history. Against those who seem to impose themselves by occupying spaces through power, he highlighted those who know how to make space for others, generate trust, and set in motion processes of peace.
The Church as a body where no one is superfluous
Pope Leo XIV later turned to the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians to explain that those who appear weakest are also necessary within the body.
He recalled that the first Christian community of Corinth was made up of men and women of very different origins and social conditions, including many poor people and slaves.
The Pontiff applied this Pauline image to the work carried out by the Maison Bakhita and other similar institutions in France.
Attention to the most vulnerable, he explained, is not a secondary addition to Christian life, but an expression of communion in which the different members need and care for one another.
Pope Leo XIV thanked the work of the Archdiocese of Paris, the Scalabrinian Sisters, the collaborators and volunteers who sustain the center, and encouraged them to continue through fraternal welcome, formation, and dialogue with the city.
ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER POPE LEO XIV
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
I am pleased to begin this second day in Paris with you, in this house that bears witness to the entire city that it is possible to meet and live together with dignity and peace.
I thank the Archdiocese of Paris, the Scalabrinian Sisters, as well as all the animators and volunteers who give life to this place and serve those who find here welcome, listening, formation, and friendship. I extend a special “thank you” to those who have shared their testimony.
The name of this Center for Social Accompaniment and Integration, which refers to Saint Josephine Bakhita, invites us to recognize the fundamental role of women in building a civilization of love, as an alternative to the culture that disintegrates communities and sickens cities with loneliness.
The history of the Church and of humanity, if we look at it more closely, is not written by those who seem to win by imposing themselves and occupying space, but by those who “make space,” establish processes of peace, generate trust, and foster life.
These are not mere sentiments, but decisions and commitments against the current, whose public importance and promise for the future we understand more and more. Saint Bakhita invites us to see those who are made invisible, to free those whom the economy and culture today reduce to slavery, to honor the infinite dignity of every brother and sister, in whom Jesus himself comes to knock at our door.
Dear friends, “the reality is that the poor, for Christians, are not a sociological category, but the very flesh of Christ. Indeed, it is not enough to limit oneself to enunciating in a general way the doctrine of the incarnation of God; to seriously enter into this mystery it is necessary, instead, to specify that the Lord becomes flesh, flesh that hungers, that thirsts, that is sick, imprisoned” (Apost. Exhort. Dilexi te, 110).
The poor and crucified Christ allows himself to be found and loved through these men and women who invite us to step out of ourselves and to practice charity.
Brothers and sisters, the most important intuition that inspires your commitment has to do with the exchange of gifts that is renewed in every encounter. No one is so poor that they have nothing to give; no one is so rich that they have nothing to receive.
There is only life in abundance where the limits of each one open to the mysterious presence of others, in whom is the Other par excellence, the God of life, who draws near to us. This does not deny the suffering that sin has introduced into history, but it helps us not to remain prisoners of it.
We proclaim that redemption is possible, that it has already begun, that it is underway, and that it involves us, as living members of the Body of Christ.
And let us not forget that “the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I do not need you’; nor can the head say to the feet, ‘I do not need you.’ On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable” (1 Cor 12:21-22). These words of Saint Paul are addressed to the Christians of Corinth, one of the richest and most dynamic metropolises of his time.
There, the Gospel had been welcomed by people of diverse origins and social backgrounds, among whom there were many poor and slaves (cf. 1 Cor 1:26-29), as some of you today. “God,” the Apostle continues, “has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another” (1 Cor 12:24-25).
I therefore thank you for your work, as well as all those who, throughout France, dedicate themselves to this service in similar institutions. Continue to bear witness to this mutual care which, through fraternal welcome, processes of formation, and dialogue with the city, lifts the spirit and humanizes the world.
May Saint Bakhita and the great witnesses of charity who have shaped the presence of the Church in France, especially in times of turbulent change, intercede for you. Thank you, may the Lord bless you.