Pope Leo XIV records his video “Let us pray with the Pope” every month, but how does he choose the intentions he wants the Church to pray for? “They are absolutely the Pope’s intentions; however, he defines them in a very synodal way,” after gathering input from several sources, Father Cristóbal Fones, SJ, international director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (RWOP), explained to EWTN News.
The prayer network, established as a Vatican entity by Pope Francis in 2018, recently carried out a broad consultation process with its national directors in 94 countries and members of the Roman Curia. “Last year, we received around 300 proposals in different languages,” said Fones. “We categorized them all, summarized them, and then the prayer network’s international office proposed 16 of them to the pope to make his job easier.”
“In December, I gave him these 16 proposals… he added another one that wasn’t on the original list and changed the order,” he continued. “He is very involved in this process. For him, this is fundamental”, he stated.
Every month, Pope Leo records three versions—in English, Italian, and Spanish—of his monthly prayer intention. “It’s a huge job,” the director of RWOP told EWTN News. “He dedicates himself to this because he knows it’s important and because he wants to pray with people.”
According to Fones, Pope Leo continues the tradition of Pope Francis, who recorded the first video of monthly intentions in 2016, but the current pontiff gives his own style to the practice. “[O Papa Leão] he wanted to invite people not only to pray for the intention, but to pray with him,” he said. “So he asked for a video where he was praying and people could join him.”
“He teaches us to pray at the same time,” Fones added, “saying ‘hello’ to the Lord, pausing and putting meaning into each word.”
Fones reported that Pope Leo asked the global network to help people cultivate a “friendship” with God through the various multimedia resources they offer.
“He told me, ‘Please teach people how to pray,’” Fones said. “He is fully aware that we may be Catholic, but we don’t always have that kind of relationship with Jesus.”
“Prayer is not something we do or say, but a relationship we build — not with something — but with someone,” he added.
In addition to the “Let Us Pray with the Pope” campaign, the Vatican foundation also offers a nine-step spiritual program called “Path of the Heart”.
At Leão’s request, RWOP launched the “Let us pray with the Pope” campaign in January, with the aim of teaching “intercessory prayer” focused on “Christ and the challenges of humanity”.
“The closer we are to the heart of Jesus, the closer we are to the pain and suffering of the world, which are at the center of his heart,” Fones said.
“The important thing is to be compassionate in the face of so many challenges that we face in the world, very critical, which are obviously in the heart of the Pope, as they are in the heart of so many people who suffer these problems and… certainly in the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ”, he concluded.
©2026 Catholic News Agency. Published with permission. Original in English: How does Pope Leo choose his monthly prayer intentions?
