We are
A global community of prayer and mission
We walk together, united by the Pope’s intentions, letting our hearts be moved by the world’s deep needs. Through prayer and compassion, we respond—with millions—where love is most needed.
Rooted in faith,
open to the world
The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is a Pontifical Work entrusted to the Society of Jesus. We are present in over 90 countries, forming a spiritual community of more than 22 million people who seek to live each day with availability to God’s mission.
At the center of our life are the monthly prayer intentions of the Pope, which invite us to focus on the pressing challenges facing humanity and the Church. These intentions help us to see, to feel, and to serve with a heart like Jesus’.
We grow together through a spiritual path called The Way of the Heart, which helps us to know Jesus more intimately, listen to the world with compassion and offer our lives with greater depth and freedom.
We are not just individuals who pray—we are a living body, a global family that believes prayer can awaken hearts, overcome indifference, and bring about real change.
Through prayer, service, and spiritual formation, we connect hearts across continents, growing in compassion and solidarity. But this is more than just prayer—it’s a mission to live the Gospel daily, transforming our lives and the world through a journey we call “The Way of the Heart.”
And you are welcome in this family.
Our story
From a small beginning
to a Global Mission
Our story began in 1844 in Vals-près-le-Puy, France, when a group of young Jesuits were encouraged to offer their daily lives in prayer for the mission of the Church. That simple, generous act gave birth to what would become the Apostleship of Prayer —a spiritual movement that would generate a network of communities rooted in the Heart of Jesus, offering each day with love and availability.
Over the years, the movement spread rapidly. In 1861, The Messenger of the Heart of Jesus began connecting millions of people across continents. In 1879, Pope Leo XIII introduced the practice of a monthly prayer intention, which would become the center of our shared mission.
In 1915, responding to the Pope’s call, the youth branch was born: the Eucharistic Youth Movement (EYM), previously known as the Eucharistic Crusade, encouraging children and young people to pray and receive communion frequently for peace in the world.
Throughout the 20th century, the Apostleship of Prayer remained a spiritual bridge between the faithful and the mission of the Church. But in the 21st century, a new moment of renewal began. In 2009, a process of re-creation was launched, and in 2014, Pope Francis approved a renewed identity: the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.
Since then, the network has grown in depth, in digital tools, and in global presence, welcoming new groups from around the world with various charisms who wish to join this mission. It has also developed new initiatives like Click To Pray, The Pope Video, and the Way of the Heart. In 2018, the Pope officially recognized it as a Pontifical Work, and in 2020, it became a Vatican Foundation. The final statutes were published in July 2024.
From a small offering in a French seminary to a global community of over 22 million people, we continue walking this path—praying, growing, and responding with compassion to the challenges of today’s world.
Our Spiritual Foundation
The Way of the Heart
The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is rooted in the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus. At the center of this spirituality is a path we call The Way of the Heart—a journey that helps us grow closer to Jesus by aligning our hearts with His: His desires, His compassion, and His mission.
This path is a deeply human and spiritual process, carefully shaped to help us listen, feel, and respond like Christ in our daily lives. Through it, we learn to welcome and serve the Kingdom of God with hearts open to love and moved by mercy, as taught in the encyclical Dilexit Nos (2024).
Live two inseparable dimensions
Compassion for the world and for human beings
People who accept and pray for the intentions proposed by the Pope open their eyes and hearts to the needs of the world through this particular spiritual path, making their own the joys and hopes, the sorrows and sufferings of humanity and the Church, and are inspired to perform spiritual and corporal works of compassion. In this way, they live a spiritual path that allows them to leave behind the “globalization of indifference” and open up to compassion for the world.
Communion with the mission of the Son
Through this spiritual path, animated and coordinated by the PWPN, the missionary and priestly vocation of the baptised person is reawakened, enabling to collaborate in daily life with the mission that the Father has entrusted to his Son. In this way the person becomes inwardly available to God’s call, through His Holy Spirit, who challenges and guides every human heart and conscience towards the good.
Continue with