Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for this month is for Christians living amidst war or conflict, especially in the Middle East. Source: CNA.
“Let us pray that Christians living in areas of war or conflict, especially in the Middle East, might be seeds of peace, reconciliation and hope,” Pope Leo said in a video released last week by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.
Fr Cristóbal Fones, international director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, emphasised that Leo’s request “is a gesture of closeness and hope: a way of saying to the Christians of Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and so many other countries that they are not forgotten, that the universal Church walks with them; but also to remind us all that faith grows even in the midst of trials, and that seeds of reconciliation and peace can be born from wounded communities”.
Below is the prayer that Pope Leo XIV encourages us to pray this December:
God of peace, who through the blood of Your Son has reconciled the world to Yourself, today we pray for Christians living amidst wars and violence.
Even surrounded by pain, may they never cease to feel the gentle kindness of your presence and the prayers of their brothers and sisters in faith.
For only through You, and strengthened by fraternal bonds, can they become the seeds of reconciliation, builders of hope in ways both small and great, capable of forgiving and moving forward, of bridging divides, and of seeking justice with mercy.
Lord Jesus, who called blessed those who work for peace, make us Your instruments of peace even where harmony seems impossible.
Holy Spirit, source of hope in the darkest times, sustain the faith of those who suffer and strengthen their hope. Do not let us fall into indifference, and make us builders of unity, like Jesus.
Amen.
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Pope Leo’s prayer intention for December: for Christians in areas of war or conflict (By Walter Sánchez Silva, CNA)
