In terms of social issues, the question of inequalities has become one of the top priorities under the papacy of Francis (2013-2024) and - most lately - Leo XIV (2024-). Social encyclical Laudato Si' and Fratelli Tutti, though from different angles, address several aspects of inequality, including poverty, which is addressed in greater detail in the Apostolic Exhortation Dilexit Te. As Pope Leo XIV argues in this papal document, "there are many faces of the poor and of poverty, since it is a multifaceted phenomenon", including material poverty, spiritual poverty, cultural poverty and so forth. It should be understood that this thread of social attentiveness towards the poor, and even if now it is present in a robust form, has always been at the forefront of the Catholic social teachings from Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum issued in 1891. This presentation aims to outline how the concept of poverty has evolved over the past 135 years in papal social encyclicals, with particular focus on its definitions and different elements of poverty. In this way, by understanding the dimensions of poverty, the question of inequality can also be addressed more nuanced.