The Holy Father inaugurates the fifth year of The Pope Video with a special intention: inviting Christians, other believers, and all men and women of good will to promote a world of justice and peace.
(Vatican City, January 2, 2020) — For four years now, The Pope Video has been published every month with the goal of disseminating the Holy Father’s monthly prayer intentions. The intentions are entrusted to the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (which includes the Eucharistic Youth Movement), a pontifical work with the mission of mobilizing Catholics through prayer and action in the face of the challenges confronting humanity and the mission of the Church. Today, the organization is present in 98 countries, and is made up of more than 35 million people. The Pope Video is an initiative with global reach: it’s published in 14 languages—the most recent to be added were Vietnamese, Polish, Swahili and Kinyarwanda—and in 2019, its various editions were seen by a total of more than 12 million people on its own social media profiles.
The Pope Video for January, the first of 2020, echoes a universal intention which is very necessary: the promotion of world peace. To achieve this, it’s essential that “all believers, and also all people of good will” participate in “reconciliation and fraternity.”
According to Pope Francis, “in a divided and fragmented world” people must spread the values of peace and harmonious coexistence “through a culture of dialogue and reciprocal understanding.”
This is not the first time that the Pope has called for worldwide peace and justice. At the beginning of 2019, he directed a message to the members of the diplomatic corps in which he said that “Peace is never a partial good, but one that embraces the entire human race.” In his message for the celebration of the 53 rd World Day of Peace, he added, “We need to pursue a genuine fraternity based on our common origin from God and exercised in dialogue and mutual trust. The desire for peace lies deep within the human heart, and we should not resign ourselves to seeking anything less than this.”
Fr. Frédéric Fornos, SJ, International Director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, has also spoken about this first edition of The Pope Video for 2020: “Francis, with this prayer intention at the beginning of the new year, is calling for hope. He’s reminding us that ‘every war is a form of fratricide that destroys the human family’s innate vocation to brotherhood,’ and that these conflicts are born from fear and from within the heart of mankind. ‘How can we put an end to this distrust?’ the Pope is asking himself. His answer: ‘seeking true fraternity.’ Prayer, Francis tells us, ‘always kindles feelings of fraternity, breaks down barriers, goes beyond borders, creates invisible but real and efficient bridges, and opens horizons of hope.’”
In this new year that’s beginning, let us pray “that Christians, followers of other religions, and all people of goodwill may promote together peace and justice in the world.”
The Pope video is possible thanks to the generous contributions of many people. You can donate by following this link.
Where can you watch the video?
- Official website of The Pope Video
- YouTube channel of The Pope Video
- Facebook page of The Pope Video
- The Pope Video on Twitter
- The Pope on Twitter @Pontifex
- The Pope on Instagram @Franciscus
Read the Vatican News’ article
About The Pope Video
The Pope Video is an official global initiative to disseminate the Holy Father’s monthly intentions. It is carried out by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostolate of Prayer). The project is supported by Vatican Media. More information at The Pope Video.
About The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network
The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is a pontifical work with the mission of mobilizing Catholics through prayer and action, in the face of the challenges confronting humanity and the mission of the Church.
These challenges are addressed in the form of prayer intentions entrusted by the Pope to the entire Church. Its mission is inscribed in the dynamic of the Heart of Jesus: a mission of compassion for the world. This work was founded in 1844 as the Apostleship of Prayer. It is present in 98 countries and is made up of more than 35 million Catholics. It includes a youth branch, the EYM: Eucharistic Youth Movement. In March 2018, the Pope constituted this ecclesial service as a Pontifical Work and approved its new statutes. Its international director is Father Frédéric Fornos, SJ.
More information at:
https://www.popesprayer.va
PRESS CONTACT
[email protected]
+34 660 034 303
