Prayer an Integral Part of Evangelization: Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV meets with leadership and members of the pontifical organization the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network in the Vatican’s Hall of the Popes on Jan. 30, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media

By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú

ACI Prensa Staff, 30 January, 2026 / 3:45 pm (ACI Africa).

Prayer is an integral part of evangelization, Pope Leo XIV said in an audience with members of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network on Jan. 30.

The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is a pontifical organization whose mission is to mobilize Catholics in prayer. The group publishes the pope’s monthly prayer intention videos and organizes other prayer initiatives.

In his address, the Holy Father recalled that each month the network disseminates the prayer intentions he and his predecessors have chosen with “careful discernment” — “intentions that touch upon the challenges facing humanity as well as the life and the mission of the Church.”

Leo thanked them for spreading these intentions to tens of millions of people within this global network “who each day present these needs before God.”

Intercessory “prayer is not external to the evangelical work of the body of Christ but an integral part of it,” he said Jan. 30 in the Vatican’s Hall of the Popes.

“The spirituality of your apostolate of prayer is rooted in the heart of Jesus, which allows you to know Our Lord more intimately and to be more compassionate and empathetic as you offer prayerful support for those in need,” he continued.

The pope expressed his desire that, through their apostolate, they will “continue to help the baptized to understand that they are friends and apostles of Christ.”

“It is especially important to invite young people to take part, so that they may form the next generation of intercessors for the needs of the whole world,” he emphasized.

He also highlighted that their Eucharistic Youth Movement can be a particularly fruitful path “to help them to grow in a deeper intimacy with our Lord.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.