By Deborah Castellano Lubov
Pope Leo XIV’s monthly prayer intention for October is for “collaboration between different religious traditions.”
The Pope invited the Church to pray for this intention in this month’s The Pope Video, which is entrusted to the entire Catholic Church through the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. Specifically, the Video opens with his voice inviting faithful to join in praying that believers in different religious traditions might work together to defend and promote peace, justice and human fraternity.
“Lord Jesus,” the Pope’s prayer begins, “You, who in diversity are one and look lovingly at every person, help us to recognize ourselves as brothers and sisters, called to live, pray, work, and dream together.”
He acknowledges that despite being “a world full of beauty,” it is “also wounded by deep divisions,” where “sometimes,” he lamented, “religions, instead of uniting us, become a cause of confrontation.”
Hence, he implores, “Give us your Spirit to purify our hearts, so that we may recognize what unites us and, from there, learn again how to listen and collaborate without destroying.”
The Holy Father went on to pray that the concrete examples of peace, justice and fraternity in religions inspire us to believe that it is possible to live and work together, beyond our differences.
“May religions not be used as weapons or walls, but rather lived as bridges and prophecy: making the dream of the common good credible, accompanying life, sustaining hope and being the yeast of unity in a fragmented world. Amen,” Pope Leo concludes.
The Pope Video
The Pope Video is an official global initiative with the purpose of disseminating the Holy Father’s monthly prayer intentions. It is carried out by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer).
Since 2016, The Pope Video has had more than 247 million views across all the Vatican’s social networks, and is translated into more than 23 languages, receiving press coverage in 114 countries.
This video, produced by The Pope Video Prayer Network team, coordinated by Andrea Sarubbi, and created with the help of Coronation Media, is distributed with the help of the La Machi agency and the collaboration of Vatican Media.
The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is a Pontifical Society, with the mission of mobilizing Catholics through prayer and action in response to the challenges facing humanity and the mission of the Church. – Vatican News
