“Pray with the Pope” unites the world in real communion through monthly online prayer, bridging faith and digital life amid global divisions.
Newsroom (07/01/2026 Gaudium Press ) In a digital world often fractured by polarization, speed, and distraction, a new Vatican initiative seeks to rediscover connection through stillness and shared faith. “Prega con il Papa” — Pray with the Pope — was presented today in the Holy See Press Office, a collaboration between the Dicastery for Communication and the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. From the quiet chapel of San Pellegrino in the Vatican to communities across the globe, the project aims to create what organizers describe as a “real and not merely virtual network of communion.”
At the heart of the launch was a simple but radical message: prayer as a meeting place for a divided world. Prefect Paolo Ruffini of the Dicastery for Communication introduced the initiative alongside the international director of the Prayer Network, Fr. Cristóbal Fones, as the first multilingual video of Pope Leo XIV’s monthly prayer intentions premiered. Recorded in English, Italian, and Spanish, the video embodies the spirit of universality that this effort seeks to rekindle.
The Slow Time of Prayer
Ruffini described the Pope’s monthly prayer message as “intimate and universal,” offered now in a new, direct, and sober form meant to unify hearts across both digital and physical spaces. He urged the faithful to see the internet not as a battleground of noise, but as an instrument of communion — and communion itself as a deeper form of communication.
In an age of constant connectivity and conflict, he said, prayer provides “a protected space, a slow time,” where people can rediscover unity and meaning. This “real network,” Ruffini insisted, proves that encounter remains possible, even in times of bombs and wars. Prayer, he said, helps to “bring back to unity what is divided.”
A Monthly Global Intention
Each month throughout 2026, Pope Leo XIV will invite Catholics to join him in a shared prayer for a particular intention — from themes of peace and disarmament to the challenges facing evangelization. These intentions echo the format of The Pope Video, a digital initiative launched a decade ago by Pope Francis that has since garnered over 260 million views across all continents.
By integrating visual storytelling and online community, “Pray with the Pope” reflects the evolving language of global communication. It invites believers to pause, reflect, and pray together, translating spiritual solidarity into a digital environment often saturated with distraction.
Building a Network Through Prayer
Ruffini recalled the Pope’s call during the Jubilee of Hope’s closing Mass to “repair the nets” — not to seek conquest or fame, but to rebuild community through shared devotion. This act, he said, reveals “the mystery of communion that unites us, among ourselves and with God.”
In a world that builds networks for profit or influence, creating one through prayer might seem unusual. Yet, as Ruffini observed, praying together is to build a network — one rooted not in algorithms or attention metrics, but in compassion and faith. The Prefect noted the spiritual curiosity of today’s people, whom Pope Leo had described as “far more alive than we realize.”
A Door Open to the World
For Fr. Fones, “Pray with the Pope” represents an open door — one that allows anyone, anywhere, to join the Pope’s monthly intention. It is, he said, “a way to pray with him in a synodal key.”
That synodality — the spirit of walking together as one Church — was reflected in testimonies shared from Indonesia’s Stella Vania and Côte d’Ivoire’s Kedi Ogou Marianne Inès. Both spoke of the grace found in belonging to a worldwide praying community, one that bridges cultures and strengthens hope through solidarity.
Fr. Fones revealed that Pope Leo personally supports the project and has already filmed three months of upcoming prayer intention videos in the San Pellegrino chapel. Ruffini added that the Pope himself invited followers on Instagram and X to join in prayer, encouraging everyone to step away from endless scrolling and reclaim time for spiritual focus.
“Pope Leo XIV communicates as a man of his time, within his time,” Ruffini observed, “yet he makes space for prayer — space to breathe the new air of God’s Word.” In an age conditioned by fleeting attention, this initiative offers a countercultural proposal: connection through contemplation, communion through silence, and renewal through shared prayer.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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