For political leaders

“Let us pray that political leaders be at the service of their own people, working for integral human development and the common good, taking care of those who have lost their jobs and giving priority to the poor”. This is Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of August, which he shared in “The Pope Video” produced by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.

The Holy Father begins by pointing out that nowadays, “politics doesn’t have a very good reputation”, as it is fraught with corruption and scandals and “distant from people’s day-to-day lives”. He notes too that we cannot “move ahead toward universal fraternity without good politics”. Citing Pope Paul vi , Pope Francis says that “politics is one of the highest forms of charity because it seeks the common good”. He clarifies that he is talking about “politics that listens to what is really going on, that’s at the service of the poor, not the kind that’s holed up in huge buildings with large hallways”, and he adds, “I’m speaking of the politics that’s concerned about the unemployed, and knows full well how sad a Sunday can be when Monday is just one more day not being able to work. If we look at it this way”, he affirms, “politics is much more noble than it appears”. The video message shows people in challenging situations, including a refugee woman, an unemployed man, children without water and a person on the street, all seemingly alone to deal with their problems — in sum, a world without good politics. The video also shows images of people who have been helped — a world with good politics. The Holy Father invites the faithful to “be grateful for the many politicians who carry out their duties with a will to serve, not of power, who put all their efforts toward the common good”.

Commenting on this month’s prayer intention, Father Frédéric Fornos, sj , International Director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, explained that “political leaders are who we make of them. Instead of fueling contempt for them with our words and thoughts”, he added, “let’s help them to be the men and women we would like them to be”. To this end, he proposes praying for them. “What courage it takes to be where they are and to try to live uprightly”, he acknowledges, noting that “they invest themselves totally: their time, their family life, their capabilities, their physical energy, their reputation”.

The Pope Video is an official global initiative with the purpose of disseminating the Holy Father’s monthly prayer intentions. Available online at www.thepopevideo.org and translated into more than 23 languages, the video for the prayer intention for August was produced by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, distributed by La Machi Communication for Good Causes, and sponsored by Vatican Media.