Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network promulgates new General Regulations

Vatican, March 20, 2026: The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network has promulgated its new General Regulations on March 19, the feast of St. Joseph, presenting an updated articulation of the body’s identity, mission, and structure.

By Vatican News

On Thursday, March 19, the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (PWPN) promulgated its new General Regulations.

A statement issued by the body notes that the document “offers an organic and updated vision of the identity, mission, and structure” and stresses that the PWPN is not “just another movement within the Church” but “a universal network at the direct service of the pontiff and of all those who join him through bonds of prayer and service.”

The statement points out that the choice of promulgating the Regulations on the feast of St. Joseph “is not accidental,” as he is the patron saint of the Society of Jesus, to which the Pope has entrusted the apostolic administration of this Pontifical Work.

Its service is carried out through the Vatican Foundation headquartered in Rome and through a network of 22 million people present in more than 90 countries.

Mission rooted in the Heart of Jesus

The statement emphasises that the new Regulations define the PWPN as a Pontifical Apostolic Work and Vatican Foundation “at the ecclesial service of the Holy See.”

It explains that the purpose of the PWPN is to mobilise Christians to respond—through prayer, spiritual formation, and service—to the challenges facing humanity and the Church’s mission, as discerned and expressed each month in the Pope’s prayer intentions.

Father Cristóbal Fones, SJ, International Director of the PWPN, said that the publication of the General Regulations is “a constant reminder of the mission that the Holy Father has entrusted to us and to which we seek to remain faithful throughout the world.”

The mission of the network is rooted in the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus and finds its central pedagogical reference in the formative itinerary The Way of the Heart. This seeks to unite intimacy with Christ with concrete commitment through prayer, thereby helping individuals to become more open to the concerns of the world.

The statement further notes that, as heir to the historic Apostleship of Prayer, the PWPN integrates its tradition with contemporary challenges in the new Regulations.

The document provides guidelines to assist the network and its members to “walk together” - in coherence with the definitive Statutes approved in 2024 - and establishes a normative framework with an initial validity of two years, until its planned review in 2028.

The structure of the new Regulations

The statement also explains that the new Regulations are organised into four parts.

The first outlines the identity and nature of the Work as a Vatican Foundation. The second describes its international, national, diocesan, and community structure, detailing governing bodies, advisory committees, and administrative norms.

The third part sets out the modes of participation, while the fourth establishes a common framework for the safeguarding and protection of minors and vulnerable adults, through methodological, formative, and procedural criteria that are mandatory for the entire Network, ensuring coherence, transparency, and accountability.

The Vatican Foundation, with its International Office in Rome, animates and coordinates the global mission, always in dialogue with local diocesan ecclesial structures and with the Prayer Network. This structure enables the PWPN to retain its universal character while being inculturated within each national ecclesial context.

A network not a movement

A key element highlighted in the new General Regulations is that the PWPN “is not a closed association nor a movement with an autonomous identity, but a broad and diverse network of Christians.”

These members, coming from different parishes, dioceses, congregations, movements, and communities, “allow themselves to be mobilized by the common mission of praying and acting with the same sentiments as Christ and according to the compass of the Pope’s intentions,” thereby broadening their perspective of the world.

The statement explains that the new Regulations outline two modes of participation. The first is open to all: anyone may pray for the Pope’s intentions, especially through the Monthly Day of Prayer on the first Fridays.

The second is a more explicit form of belonging, involving the adoption of a daily rhythm of prayer and, eventually, consecration to the Heart of Jesus, either individually or within a community.

Within this framework, the statement also notes the presence of the Eucharistic Youth Movement (EYM), a youth initiative proposed by the Network and inspired by the narrative of the disciples of Emmaus.

Courtesy: Vatican News