By Christopher Wells

“Let us pray that societies where coexistence seems more difficult might not succumb to the temptation of confrontation for ethnic, political, religious, or ideological reasons,” Pope Leo says in his prayer intention for August, 2025.

In the prayer that follows, Pope Leo recalls that we stand in Jesus’ presence, in need of His peace.

“We live in times of fear and division,” the Pope says. “Sometimes we act as if we were alone, building walls that separate us from one another, forgetting that we are brothers and sisters.”

He calls on Jesus to send the Holy Spirit “to rekindle within us the desire to understand one another, to listen, to live together with respect and compassion.”

The Holy Father goes on to ask the Lord for “the courage to seek paths of dialogue, to respond to conflict with gestures of fraternity, to open our hearts to others without fear of difference.”

“Make us builders of bridges, able to overcome borders and ideologies, able to see others through the eyes of the heart, recognizing in every person an inviolable dignity,” Pope Leo prays, before concluding, “Help us to create spaces where hope can flourish, where diversity is not a threat but a richness that makes us more human.”

Promoting peaceful coexistence

In the press release accompanying this month’s prayer intention, Father Cristóbal Fones, S.J.—the International Director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which publishes the Holy Father’s prayer intention each month—explains that “all of us can promote peaceful co’existence.

This, he said, entails, “the necessity of working on oneself first of all; to rid one’s heart of pride, and the expectations and negative words that hurt and kill.  As Pope Leo XIV teaches us, peace is built in the heart and from the heart.”

Secondly, it is necessary to set aside prejudices and to acknowledge the fear of those who are ‘different’. “We need to respectfully approach others to listen since they always something unique to contribute,” Father Fones continues. “Through dialogue, it is possible to seek what unites us and open up ways to work together for the common good.”

Lastly, Father Fones reminds us that “Pope Leo XIV also points out that government leaders need to work toward building harmonious and peaceful societies. This can be done by: investing in the family; safeguarding the dignity of every person, especially the weakest and most defenseless; exercising justice; seeking to remedy inequalities; defending the truth, which is the basis on which authentic relationships can be built.”

Finally, within the context of the Holy Year 2025, The Pope Video acquires special relevance since through it we know the prayer intentions the Pope holds in his heart. To properly receive the graces of the Jubilee indulgence, it is necessary to pray for the Pope’s intentions.