The Pope Video | The Pope Video is a global initiative developed by the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer)

Let us pray that the ecclesial community might welcome the desires and doubts of those young people who feel a call to serve Christ’s mission in the priesthood and religious life.

Pope Francis – February 2025

When I was 17 years old, I was a student and was working. I had my own plans. I wasn’t thinking at all of being a priest. But one day, I went into the church…and God was there, waiting for me!
God still calls young people even today, sometimes in ways we can’t imagine. Sometimes we don’t hear because we’re too busy with our own things, our own plans, even with our own things in the Church.
But the Holy Spirit also speaks to us through dreams, and speaks to us through the concerns young people feel in their hearts. If we accompany their journeys, we’ll see how God is doing new things with them. And we’ll be able to welcome His call in ways that better serve the Church and the world today.
Let’s trust young people! And, above all, let’s trust God for He calls everyone!
Let us pray that the ecclesial community might welcome the desires and doubts of those young people who feel called to live Jesus’s mission in life: either through the priestly life, or religious life.

Credits

Campaign title:

The Pope Video – FEBRUARY | For vocations to the priesthood and religious life

A project by Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network

In collaboration with Vatican Media

Creativity and co-production by:

Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Benefactors

Thanks to

+ José H. Gómez, Archbishop of Los Angeles

Sarah Yaklic

Isabel Cacho

Peter Lobato

John Rueda

Office for Religious Education – Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Office for Vocations – Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Francesca Ambrogetti

With the Society of Jesus

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PRESS RELEASE

Pope Francis: God still calls young people even today, sometimes in ways we can’t imagine

The Pope invites us to pray during February “that the ecclesial community might welcome the desires and doubts of those young people who feel a call to serve Christ’s mission in the priesthood and religious life.”
In the video illustrating his prayer intention, Pope Francis recalls his own vocation, as a youth. He affirms that by listening to young people, they might welcome God’s call “in ways that better serve the Church and the world today.”
The Pope invites us to believe in young people, and above all, to trust in God who is the one who “calls everyone.”

(Vatican City, 4 February 2024). – “For vocations to the priesthood and religious life” is the theme of the Pope’s prayer intention for the month of February 2025. This topic leads him to speak about young people, and the need to accompany them with their dreams and concerns. At the same time, he talks about a crucial moment in his own life.

Jorge the youth, and today’s youth

“When I was 17 years old,” Pope Francis confides in his video message, produced by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, “I was a student and was working. I had my own plans. I wasn’t thinking at all of being a priest. But one day, I went into the church…and God was there, waiting for me!” Photos from his youth – at school, in his family, at church – open The Pope Video. Scenes from the daily lives of today’s young people follow. Times change, but the ability of the Lord to speak to the hearts of those who seek him does not change.

In fact, the Pope affirms that “God still calls young people even today, sometimes in ways we can’t imagine,” and that he does “new things with them.” This is why it is important to create a listening atmosphere in which they can manifest their concerns, and feel “loved as they are, and for who they are,” an atmosphere in which they can hear and freely respond to the Lord’s call, accompanied by a welcoming community. In Pope Francis’s words, “it is necessary to walk with them, listen to them… take them to Jesus, always favouring their freedom.”

Pope Francis invites us, therefore, to listen to the Holy Spirit when he “speaks through the concerns young people feel.” That way, it will be possible to welcome God’s call “in ways that better serve the Church and the world today.” And so, he asks us to pray that the “ecclesial community might welcome the desires and doubts of those young people who feel a call to serve Christ’s mission in the priesthood and religious life.”

The challenge of trust

The challenge, then, is that of believing in young people, in their ability to contribute significantly to the Church and to the world. In fact, in the February video, Pope Francis invites us to be hopeful about young people, and to hope primarily in God, “for He calls everyone.”

“Our God is a God who takes the lives and gifts of young people seriously,” states Archbishop José H. Gómez, Archbishop of Los Angeles. “The Church’s mission,” continues the Archbishop of the largest diocese in the United States, who contributed to the production of this video with a team of digital professionals, “is to walk with young people to help them grow in their faith and to work to build this world into the Kingdom that God wants for his people.”

Father Cristóbal Fones, S.J., International Director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, reminds us that “believing in young people is essential to encourage them to examine their own vocation in full freedom, and to respond to it courageously. This requires an approach to vocation ministry that truly values dialogue and accompaniment, while also welcoming and accepting the concrete concerns, questions and aspirations of young people as an important component in the vocational process. Furthermore, the Pope says that, through what young people say, which can at times be challenging or questioning, God could also be indicating new paths for today’s Church, thus offering us an opportunity for our own conversion.

“In the Christian life,” Father Fones continues, “we can all accompany their discernment through four basic attitudes: openness, a listening ear, proximity, and interest. First, we need to be open to the mission of encouraging vocations, and not close those paths to them which God Himself is opening. This is especially important within families. Next, it is important to create a climate in the community that is conducive to listening to God’s voice, to welcoming, to respect those who feel the desire to follow Christ in the consecrated or priestly life. We also need to be discretely and consistently close to them, supporting them through our own witness. Lastly, taking a sincere interest in each one of them helps to open their hearts. To sum up, our attitudes can play a decisive part for young people who want to respond to the Lord on this path, yet who do not know how to do it.”

Finally, to gain the indulgences granted specifically during the Jubilee of 2025, it is worth recalling that one of the conditions is to pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. The Pope Video offers everyone an occasion to do this, as well as the digital prayer platform ClickToPray.

The Pope Video is possible thanks to the generous contributions of many people. You can donate by following this link.

Where can the video be seen?

About 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 240 million views across all the Vatican’s social networks, and is translated into more than 23 languages, receiving press coverage in 114 countries. This month’s video is produced and created by The Pope Video Prayer Network team, coordinated by Andrea Sarubbi, in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and distributed with the help of La Machi Communication for Good Causes. The project is sponsored by Vatican Media. More information: The Pope Video.

About the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network

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. These challenges are presented in the form of prayer intentions entrusted by the Pope to the entire Church. The foundation’s mission is inscribed in the dynamic of the Heart of Jesus, a mission of compassion for the world. It was founded in 1844 as the Apostleship of Prayer. It is present in 92 countries, and is made up of more than 22 million Catholics. It includes a youth branch, the Eucharistic Youth Movement (EYM). In July 2024, the Pope approved the definitive Statutes of this Pontifical Work (canonical and Vatican legal entity). Its international director is Father Cristóbal Fones, SJ. For more information, visit: https://www.popesprayer.va.

Arcidiocesi di Los Angeles

L’Arcidiocesi di Los Angeles è una comunità che serve oltre 4,3 milioni di cattolici, residenti in 120 città diverse. Nelle sue 288 parrocchie e 30 missioni e cappelle, assiste persone di varie origini e culture con messe celebrate in 42 lingue diverse. Attraverso le sue 265 scuole, cerca di formare una nuova generazione di cattolici, contagiata dalla gioia del Vangelo. Sotto la guida pastorale dell’Arcivescovo José H. Gómez, i cattolici di Los Angeles collaborano per vivere e proclamare la buona novella, impegnati nella costruzione di una comunità di fede e amore e nell’eliminazione delle molteplici facce della povertà – spirituale, economica e morale – e nella difesa della dignità della vita umana. Ulteriori informazioni su: www.lacatholics.org

PRESS CONTACTS

POPE’S WORLDWIDE PRAYER NETWORK – VATICAN CITY

[email protected]

PARTNERS:

ARCHDIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES

Yannina Diaz – Director of Media Relations

[email protected]