As the Church enters the month of October, Pope Leo XIV is asking the faithful to join him in prayer for an intention that speaks to one of the deepest challenges of our time: how religions can unite rather than divide.
According to Vatican News, the Holy Father’s prayer intention this month is for “collaboration between different religious traditions.” Through The Pope Video, an initiative of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, the Pope invited Catholics worldwide to pray that “believers in different religious traditions might work together to defend and promote peace, justice and human fraternity” (Vatican News).
A Prayer for Unity
The video opens with Pope Leo’s prayer: “Lord Jesus, 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.”
The Pope acknowledges both the beauty and brokenness of the world. He notes that while creation is “a world full of beauty,” it is also “wounded by deep divisions.” With sorrow, he observed, “sometimes religions, instead of uniting us, become a cause of confrontation” (Vatican News).
Because of this, he pleaded: “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.”
Religions as Bridges
The Holy Father emphasized that faith traditions must not be twisted into weapons of division, but instead lived as sources of healing and hope. “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.”
The Mission of The Pope Video
Since its launch in 2016, The Pope Video has reached millions of people. Vatican News reports it has garnered more than 247 million views, translated into over 23 languages, and shared in 114 countries. Produced by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, a Pontifical Society, the initiative helps Catholics respond through prayer and action to the challenges of humanity and the mission of the Church.
Pope Leo XIV’s October intention reminds the faithful that prayer is not only personal, but also global. By uniting in prayer for collaboration among religions, the Church participates in building what the Pope calls “bridges and prophecy” of peace in a divided world.
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