Pope Announces Prayer Intention for December

Vatican, Nov 28, 2025: Pope Leo has issued his prayer intention for December, urging the faithful to pray that Christians who live amid war may become seeds of peace.

In the video, he said: “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.”

He also offered a prayer to the God of Peace, asking that Christians surrounded by suffering may sense the “gentle kindness of your presence and the prayers of their brothers and sisters in faith.”

The Pope prayed that God would help them strengthen fraternal ties and become seeds of reconciliation that foster hope and help build bridges rooted in justice and mercy.

He further invited all Christians to pray that we do not become indifferent to the suffering experienced by other Christians, but remain committed to becoming builders of unity.

‘Unshakable faith even amid rubble’

The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network—producers of the monthly Pope Video in collaboration with Vatican Media—issued a statement connecting this month’s intention to his visit to Türkiye and Lebanon.

The communique notes that, despite instability in the Middle East, Christian communities continue to safeguard the faith, serve the poor, and collaborate with members of other Churches and religions to build pathways of coexistence.

The statement added that “according to Aid to the Church in Need’s Religious Freedom Report 2025, the number of conflicts in the Middle East and the socio-economic conditions there expose religious minorities, and Christians in particular, to a condition of extreme vulnerability.”

Amid their “unshakable faith even in the midst of rubble,” Christian communities are finding ways to revive their mission following recent wars and are offering both charitable support and spiritual care to others.

“All of these are signs of the presence of that Holy Spirit who, as the prayer reads, the Pope says, is ‘the source of hope in the darkest times’.”

Text of Pope Leo’s prayer intention

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.