[3] Some reports attribute the delay to problems in translating the original German text into Latin, others to disputes within the Vatican over the precise wording of the document.

[4][5] The encyclical was promulgated on 25 January 2006, in Latin and officially translated into seven other languages (English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Spanish).

This encyclical begins with a quotation from the Vulgate, First Epistle of John, chapter 4, verse 16 translated from the original Greek, Ὁ Θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν (Ho Theos agape estin[7]).

[8] The Latin version of the First Epistle of John uses the same formulation, Deus caritas est, at the end of chapter 4, verse 8 translating the same phrase in Greek.

The second half, based on a report prepared by the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, is less abstract, considering the charitable activities of the Church as an expression of love which draws its power from contemplative union with God.

The second half also refers to the Church's threefold responsibility: proclaiming the word of God (kerygma-martyria), celebrating the sacraments (leitourgia), and exercising the ministry of charity (diakonia).

However, in accordance with a practice initiated in the pontificate of John Paul II, the unofficial versions prepared by the Vatican in 7 other languages use the singular ("I wish to speak of love").

[15] On 25 December 2005, on the occasion of the first Christmas Urbi et Orbi Message of his Pontificate and of the encyclical's signature, Pope Benedict XIV talked about the New World Order, pandemy, and green conversion.

Pope Benedict led an ecumenical prayer service at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, a traditional site for such celebrations, on the evening after the encyclical was published.