According to Jesuit Father Cristobal Fones, international director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, who presented the initiative Jan. 7 in Rome alongside Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, the initiative proposes “a shared inner experience that aspires to transform life from within.”
The focus of this new phase, as the Jesuit priest explained, “will be more centered on supporting a spiritual experience, which often becomes difficult amidst our busy and noise-filled daily lives.”
“The pope is very aware of this and wants to help us, inviting us to pray together for others,” he added. The “update” of the initiative, according to Fones, stems “from the profound need we have to slow down in order to achieve greater depth in our decisions and relationships.”
With a simple and accessible format, “Pray with the Pope” aims to allow anyone, wherever they are, to join in the Holy Father’s prayer intention, which this year 2026 begins with the invitation to “learn to pray with the most definitive Word, which is not our own, so full of empty promises, but Jesus Christ.”
In this month’s video, Pope Leo XIV is seen silently reading a passage from the Bible in the presence of the Lord, and then he recites a short prayer:
“Lord Jesus, living word of the Father, in you we find the light that guides our steps.
“We know that the human heart lives restless, hungry for meaning, and only your Gospel can give it peace and fullness.
“Teach us to listen to you each day in the Scriptures, to let ourselves be challenged by your voice, and to discern our decisions from the closeness to your heart.
“May your word be nourishment in weariness, hope in darkness, and strength in our communities.
“Lord, may your word never be absent from our lips or from our hearts — the word that makes us sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, disciples and missionaries of your kingdom.
