In the Middle East, concord and dialogue among the three monotheistic religions is based on spiritual and historic bonds.
The Good News of Jesus, risen out of love, came to us from these lands.
Today, many Christian communities, together with Jewish and Muslim communities, work here for peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness.
Let us pray that a spirit of dialogue, encounter, and reconciliation emerge in the Middle East
Today, a new impulse to the Church’s missionary activity is needed to face the challenge of proclaiming Jesus and his death and resurrection.
Reaching the peripheries—the human, cultural, and religious settings still foreign to the Gospel: this is what we call the missio ad gentes.
We must also remember that the heart of the Church’s mission is prayer.
In this Extraordinary Missionary Month, let us pray that the Holy Spirit may engender a new missionary “spring” for all those baptized and sent by Christ’s Church.
Oceans contain the bulk of our planet’s water supply, and also most of the immense variety of living creatures, many of them are threatened for various reasons.
Creation is a project of love given by God to humanity.
Our solidarity with the “common home” is born from our faith.
Let us pray this month that politicians, scientists and economists work together to protect the world’s seas and oceans.
What kind of world do we want to leave for the future?
Let us leave a world with families.
Let us care for our families, because they are true schools for the future, spaces of freedom, and centers of humanity.
And let us reserve a special place in our families for individual and communal prayer.
Let us pray that families, through their life of prayer and love, become ever more clearly “schools of true human development”.
The decisions made by judges influence the rights and property of citizens.
Their independence should keep them safe from favoritism and from pressures that could contaminate the decisions they have to make.
Judges must follow the example of Jesus, who never negotiates the truth.
Let us pray that those who administer justice may work with integrity, and that the injustice which prevails in the world may not have the last word.
I would like to ask you to look at the priests who work in our communities.
They are not perfect, but many give it their all until the very end, offering themselves with humility and joy.
They are priests who are close to the people, ready to work hard for everyone.
Let us be thankful for their example and testimony.
Let us pray that priests, through the modesty and humility of their lives, commit themselves actively, above all, to solidarity with those who are most poor.
The ethnic, linguistic, and tribal divisions in Africa can be overcome promoting unity in diversity.
I want to thank the religious sisters, priests, laity, and missionaries for their work to create dialogue and reconciliation among the various sectors of African society.
Let us pray this month that the Church in Africa, through the commitment of its members, may be the seed of unity among her peoples and a sign of hope for this continent.
The presence of doctors, nurses, and other health care workers in war-torn areas is a sign of hope.
They are wise, valiant, and good-hearted people who, following their vocation, work under extremely dangerous conditions.
Let us pray for doctors and their humanitarian collaborators in war-torn areas, who risk their lives to save the lives of others.
It might be hard for us to believe, but there are more martyrs today than in the first centuries.
They are persecuted because they speak the truth and proclaim Jesus Christ to this society.
This happens particularly where religious freedom is not yet guaranteed.
However, it also happens in countries where, in theory and on paper, they protect freedom and human rights.
Let us pray that Christian communities, especially those who are persecuted, feel that they are close to Christ and have their rights respected
Although we try to ignore it, slavery is not something from other times.
Faced with this tragic reality, no one can wash their hands of it without being, in some way, an accomplice to this crime against humanity.
We cannot ignore the fact that there is as much slavery in the world today as there was before, or perhaps more.
Let us pray for a generous welcome of the victims of human trafficking, of enforced prostitution, and of violence.
