Pope

Pope: Young people, be next generation of intercessors for world’s needs

Pope Leo XIV meets with the leadership and members of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network and thanks them for their work. He encourages them to continue their mission and invite young people to take part.

By Isabella H. de Carvalho

Pope Leo XIV thanked the leadership and members of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network for their work and encouraged them to attract young people, so that they may get closer to God.

“It is especially important to invite young people to take part so that they may form the next generation of intercessors for the needs of the whole world,” the Pope said in his address to the group, which he met on Friday, January 30, at the Vatican.

Since many young people “are searching for a more profound and personal relationship with the Risen Jesus, your Eucharistic Youth Movement can be a particularly fruitful path to help them to grow in a deeper intimacy with our Lord," he underlined.

He urged the participants "to foster an even greater participation in this Network, which unites diverse cultures, languages, and charisms in the common mission."

The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is a Pontifical Work entrusted to the Society of Jesus. Every month the Network releases the Pope’s prayer intention, which focuses on challenges facing humanity and the Church. The Network is rooted in the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus, especially through the formation itinerary “The Way of the Heart.”

The Pope in fact highlighted how this spirituality allows the Network and its members “to know our Lord more intimately and to be more compassionate and empathetic” as they “offer prayerful support for those in need.”

“It is my hope that through your apostolate you will continue to help the baptized to understand that they are friends and apostles of Christ,” he emphasized.

Prayer is an integral part of the Church

The Pope then thanked all those present for their “efforts to disseminate” his prayer intentions “to the tens of millions of people in this worldwide network who each day present these needs before God.”

“Such prayer is not external to the evangelical work of the Body of Christ, but an integral part of it,” he continued.

He thanked in particular the International Director of the Network, Father Cristóbal Fones, as well as the Vice Directors, Bettina Raed and Father Miguel Melo, and all the members and partners who support this mission.