Through the prayer intentions, Pope Francis shares every month his great concerns for humanity and for the mission of the Church. His monthly prayer intention is a worldwide call to transform our prayer into «concrete gestures»: it is a compass for a mission of compassion for the world.
In the month of September 2023, Francis calls for prayer and action for those “living on the margins of society”. The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, whose mission is the promotion of the human person with particular attention to the least and the invisible, has supported the Pope’s World Prayer Network in the realization of this video, aimed at spreading the prayer intentions of the Holy Father.
To watch the video click here
“A homeless person who dies on the street will never appear among the top stories of search engines or newscasts,” the Holy Father notes at the beginning of the prayer intention he shares with the Universal Church this month. “How could we have reached this level of indifference?” Francis asks us and himself.
Various types of people live on the margins of our society. Their numbers are much higher than we think. In fact, according to the United Nations, more than 700 million (10% of the population) live in extreme poverty, facing major difficulties in obtaining basic necessities, such as healthcare, education, access to water and sanitation. It is specifically for them, those forgotten by the press, that this month’s video seeks to draw attention to.
“How is it that we allow the ‘throwaway culture,’ in which millions of men and women are worth nothing compared to economic goods, to dominate our lives, our cities, our way of life?” Pope Francis continues to ask. The Pope invites us to “stop making invisible those who are on the margins of society, whether it’s due to poverty, addictions, mental illness or disability.”
To the ‘throwaway culture’ we must respond with the 'culture of welcoming'. Therefore, the Holy Father asks all believers to mobilize in prayer “for those people who live on the margins of society in subhuman living conditions, that they may not be neglected by institutions and never be cast out.”
Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, comments on the Holy Father’s video for the month of September: “Pope Francis is aware of the educational power of prayer and through it, he invites us to develop a culture of welcome. ‘The stone rejected by the builders has become the corner stone.’ This message will be strong and credible if, even today, we give a voice to the outcasts, if we recognize the indelible dignity of those who have been crucified by a ruthless economy, by harassment or by indifference. Welcoming is more than helping : it means putting the other person at our level, rediscovering a sister or a brother we have lost. We are transformed into one Body through prayer.”
The Pope’s Video is an official initiative of the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer) to spread the Holy Father’s monthly prayer intentions throughout the world.