- We celebrate ten years since the refoundation of the Apostleship of Prayer as the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (2014-2024). This Pontifical Work was established by Pope Francis in 2018 to emphasize that prayer is at the heart of the Church’s mission. In this Year of Prayer (2024), Pope Francis approved the final statutes of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, signed on July 1, 2024.
- The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network also promotes the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus. This was renewed through its formative itinerary “The Way of the Heart” and has been confirmed by the Pope’s last Encyclical “Dilexit nos” (“He Loved Us”, Rom 8:37), in which He invites us to a mission of compassion for the world.
- The significant growth of this work in recent years needed a change, resulting in an expanded leadership team. In addition to a new international director, appointed by the Holy Father, there are now two international deputy directors appointed by the Secretariat of State.
(Vatican City, December 5, 2024) – Ten years after the refoundation of the Apostleship of Prayer as the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (2014-2024), a new leadership team has been introduced. Fr. Frédéric Fornos, SJ, responsible since 2014 under the direction of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus and appointed by Pope Francis in 2016, has led the transformation of the Apostleship of Prayer, alongside with the Eucharistic Youth Movement, into a Pontifical Work (canonical and Vatican legal entity). The new leadership team will be presented, featuring the new international director, Father Cristóbal Fones, SJ, who has been recently appointed by the Holy Father.
180 Years of the Apostleship of Prayer
The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is now active in more than 90 countries, with an organizational structure that includes both national and diocesan levels. Numerous religious congregations actively support the Eucharistic Youth Movement (EYM) or have integrated the Apostleship of Prayer into their own charism. This network is primarily parochial and popular, grounded in the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus.
It should be noted innovative digital projects. Click To Pray, the Pope’s prayer platform, available in seven languages, where Pope Francis inaugurated his personal prayer profile in January 2019. Additionally, The Pope Video, translated into 23 languages, allows Him to comment on his prayer intention each month, inviting all Catholics and people of goodwill to join in prayer and action in response to the challenges of humanity and the Church’s mission.
10 Years of Refoundation with Pope Francis
Fr. Adolfo Nicolás SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus from 2008 to 2016, encouraged reflection and deepening of the spiritual tradition of the Apostleship of Prayer in order to initiate its recreation. In 2014, he invited Fr. Frédéric Fornos, SJ, to Rome to lead this process. As the European Coordinator, Fr. Fornos was already part of the international team that drafted the document detailing the steps for this renewal. He had previously served as the national director of the Apostleship of Prayer in France, where it was founded 180 years ago, and along with his team, began to renew this work.
We now celebrate ten years since the refoundation of the Apostleship of Prayer as the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (2014-2024). From the beginning, Pope Francis has supported this revitalization, approving the process in 2014 to emphasize that prayer is at the heart of the Church’s mission. He appointed Fr. Fornos SJ as the international director in 2016, with the mission of accompanying the institutional transformation of this work. In 2018, the Pope approved the Statutes that established the Network as a Pontifical Work, emphasize the universal nature of this mission and to mobilize Catholics for prayer and action in response to the challenges of humanity and the Church’s mission (Pope’s prayer intentions).
With the new Statutes it was also declared that this Pontifical Work includes a youth branch, the Eucharistic Youth Movement (EYM), and it was established that the Groups of the Apostleship of Prayer are a way of participation in this Network, along with other forms such as Prayer Network Communities, Parishes, Shrines, and various groups, as well as individual participation.
In 2020, Pope Francis erected the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network as a canonical and Vatican legal entity, based in Vatican State, for a three-years ad experimentum term. On July 1, 2024, in this year dedicated to prayer, the final statutes of the Pontifical Work were approved by the Holy Father.
A Network of Compassion for the World
In many parishes around the world, “Apostleship of Prayer” is displayed on one side of banners and “League of the Heart of Jesus” on the other. This is how it has long been designated, as evidenced by the admission ticket signed at 12 years old (1885) by Teresa Martin – future Saint Thérèse of Lisieux – who herself learned to pray in the Apostleship of Prayer with her parents (also members).
The Apostleship of Prayer, now known as the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, has embodied and promoted the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus throughout its history. In 1861, it began publishing the “Messenger of the Heart of Jesus,” a magazine that is now present in many countries around the world. In this Prayer Network, millions of people—whether in Asia, Africa, Oceania, America, or Europe, living in slums or wealthy areas, young or old—join in prayer every day, united to the Heart of Christ. They pray for the great challenges of mankind and the Church’s mission, which the Pope entrusts each month, united in a mission of compassion for the world.
We all remember the Encyclical Letter “Dilexit nos” (“He Loved Us”, Rom 8:37), published by Pope Francis in October 2024, on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Heart of Jesus, celebrating the 350th anniversary of the manifestation of the Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. The criteria for discernment and interpretation that Pope Francis presents therein have been recently applied for the renewal of the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus in the Pope’s Prayer Network.
The Way of the Heart, which is the specific way of living the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus in the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, finds in this Encyclical a confirmation and an important theological clarification of its spiritual foundations, while also developing its own apostolic dynamic in service of the Church’s mission.
It is significant that the Sanctuary of the Heart of Jesus in Paray-le-Monial has joined the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network at the beginning of the Jubilee.
An Expanded Leadership Team
The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network has experienced significant growth in recent years. As a result, the new Statutes provide for two deputy directors to assist the international director in his mission. They are appointed by the Secretariat of State, upon the proposal of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus.
The new international director appointed by the Holy Father, Father Cristóbal Fones, SJ, has already begun his mission, although he will officially assume the position on January 1, 2025. For him, “this historical moment we celebrate is the fruit of the efforts of an international team, led by Father Fornos, has deepened over the years into the spiritual treasure and apostolic mission of the work. With a renewed and updated language and approach, the Prayer Network continues to support the Church’s mission thanks to millions of people who make the world’s needs expressed in the Pope’s intentions their own. It is a pride to be part of this great network of solidarity and willingness to collaborate with Jesus in His mission of compassion”.
The two international deputy directors are part of the leadership team. Ms. Bettina Raed, appointed on September 1, 2024, by Cardinal Parolin, is also coordinator of international formation, and has already begun her duties. She emphasizes: “I am very happy and grateful to be able to remain at the service of this mission in this new responsibility entrusted to me. Looking at the history with the eyes set on the future and the current reality of the work, I wish to strengthen the spiritual experience of The Way of the Heart by working with various teams and encouraging others to live this formative itinerary”.
Father Miguel Pedro Melo, SJ, whose appointment as deputy director has already been approved, will join the leadership team in the coming months. Additionally, the international office comprises 16 people, including six Continental Coordinators, to support and accompany 122 national directors and coordinators, along with their teams.