For the gift of diversity in the church. For the terminally ill. For the role of women.
These are a few of Pope Francis’ special prayer intentions that he prays each month. The pope has an official “prayer network” that prays with him and promotes these intentions. On March 13, the 11th anniversary of Francis’ papacy, there is no better gift than to pray with and for him.
As the national director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, otherwise known as the Apostleship of Prayer, I travel around the country and speak about the pope’s prayer intentions, encouraging people to join the Apostleship of Prayer. As I tell people: “Jesuits are called to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. So, if Francis isn’t making you uncomfortable, then you’re not paying attention!” But this call is not just for the Jesuits; Jesus himself both comforts us and challenges us. All Christians, especially popes, must continue to announce the Gospel message with their words and actions. The pope’s monthly intentions reflect the tension between the comfort and challenge of the Gospel.
During March, Pope Francis invites us to pray with him “for the new martyrs. We pray that those who risk their lives for the Gospel in various parts of the world inflame the Church with their courage and missionary enthusiasm.” This intention particularly stirs my heart. I love the many Jesuit saints and martyrs who gave their lives in witness to Christ. But in many countries, martyrdom is not just part of Church history but a present-day reality. I have Jesuit friends in India and Nigeria who have been kidnapped, harassed and brutalized. The pope’s prayer intention raises awareness about important issues and brings the needs of others into our prayers.
Reading over Francis’ prayer intentions for 2025, I noticed how our Jesuit pope has his fingerprints on these intentions. He invites us to pray for a healthy “relationship with all of creation” in September 2025. The following month, we will pray for “collaboration between different religious traditions.” There is a strong resonance in these intentions with his papal encyclicals: “Laudato Si’” on the environment and “Fratelli Tutti” on human fraternity.
When I entered the Jesuits in 2000, I learned about the Apostleship of Prayer and have been praying with the pope’s intentions ever since. Since 2025 is a jubilee year, I recently looked back at St. John Paul II’s intentions in the 2000 jubilee year. I also read through Pope Benedict XVI’s intentions in 2012—the last full year of his papacy and the Year of Faith, which marked 50 years since the start of the Second Vatican Council.
I found significant overlap in these popes’ intentions, as well as the unique personalities and emphases of each pontiff shining through. In June 2000, Pope John Paul II prayed that “Christ, adored and celebrated in the Eucharist, may increasingly be shared as Bread of life for the good of the world.” In his homilies and writings, especially the encyclical “Ecclesia Eucharistia,” John Paul II consistently sought a renewal and deepening of eucharistic piety, which he sensed had diminished in the years following Vatican II. Similarly, Pope Benedict XVI was a liturgical theologian and likewise devoted a monthly intention to the Eucharist in October 2012, praying that we recognize “the living presence of the Risen One” in the Eucharist.
All three of these popes have and will continue to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. I was struck that John Paul II’s July 2000 intention is almost identical to Francis’ for October 2025. John Paul II prayed that the followers of different “religions may grow in respecting one another and collaborating to consolidate justice and peace.” Many recall John Paul II’s historic gathering of religious leaders in Assisi, Italy, in both 1986 and 2002 to pray and work for peace. Pope Francis continues this tradition of dialogue with other faiths, particularly in “Fratelli Tutti” and in his namesake, the beloved “Saint of Peace,” Francis of Assisi.
In December 2012, Pope Benedict XVI prayed “that migrants throughout the world may be welcomed with generosity and authentic love.” John Paul II also prayed that migrants and refugees might experience “God the Father’s goodness” through “Christians’ generous welcome.” Care for migrants is certainly a passion of Pope Francis, and while he does not name this intention in 2025, he does in June 2024: “that migrants fleeing from war or hunger, forced to undertake journeys full of danger and violence, find welcome and new opportunities in the countries that receive them.”
Notice, too, the increasingly ominous tone of these petitions. First, John Paul II prayed for “young married couples” in 2000. Then, Benedict XVI prayed for “initiatives which defend and uphold the role of the family,” as many modern governments marginalized or redefined the traditional family. Now, Francis prays for “families in crisis,” that they might “discover the cure for their wounds through forgiveness.” There has been an increase in severity across these papal intentions: for families, defending families, for families in crisis. In a similarly somber tone, Francis will pray for “the prevention of suicide” in November 2025. The scientific and technological developments of the 21st century offer incredible opportunities, but they have not created a more caring world.
Each of these pontiffs has his unique gifts, experiences and interests that he brings to his prayer intentions—John Paul II’s global vision, Benedict XVI’s academic wisdom and Francis’ Latin American roots. In their intentions, we see their common mission as prayerful pastors of an international church that labors for faith, hope and love in a troubled world.
The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is rooted in the love of Jesus, as expressed in the Sacred Heart devotion. These monthly intentions are prayers offered to God by people of faith. Christians pray. We turn to God for help. In the traditional daily offering of the Apostleship of Prayer, we pray “for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart: salvation of souls, reparation for sins, the reunion of all Christians.” We believe that God wants these things even more than we do.
Popes are bishops, leaders, heads of the Vatican state and leaders of over a billion Catholics. But popes are also disciples, Christians and men of prayer. They pray for us. They ask us to pray with them and for them.
Happy 11th anniversary, Pope Francis! We are praying with you and for you.
