(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV invited the faithful to pray throughout September for “the care of water,” coinciding with the ecumenical “Christian Season of Creation.”
In a video released by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, he asked that water remain “a source of fruitfulness, freshness, and hope” and a “right without borders.”
Water, the pope said, “quenches thirst, nourishes the earth, and heals wounds” while serving as a sign of God’s grace and Baptism. He asked forgiveness for treating it as a mere commodity and expressed sorrow for those who lack clean water, walk long distances to obtain it, or fall ill from scarcity.
The pope further prayed that the Holy Spirit make Christians “pilgrims of the essential” who live simply and reject waste and pollution, so that all may drink “without fear and without inequality.”
Traditionally, intentions of pope focus on the ‘well-being and the exaltation of the Church’
As expressed by the current pope’s esteemed predecessor in name, Pope Leo XIII (1878 to 1903), prayer for the intentions of the pope are directed first toward the “well-being and exaltation of the Catholic Church.” Leo XIII expressly described these intentions in Quod Auctoritate as including “the rooting out of all heresy” and “the conversion of all who are in error.”
They also encompass the unity of Christians and peace among nations. Leo XIII connected prayer for the pope’s intentions with the hope that “concord may reign among Christian princes” and that “peace and unity” would belong to all the faithful.
This traditional scope reflects the Church’s broader apostolic mission. Blessed Pope Pius IX (1846 to 1878) urged prayer, beseeching
God to deliver His holy Church from all calamities, to expand and exalt it more and more every day among all nations and everywhere on earth, to purge the world of all errors, to lead all men in mercy to the recognition of truth and the way of salvation.
In his monthly intention for October 1959, Pope St. John XXIII likewise associated the Church’s prayer for the advancement of humanity with the triumph of truth, justice, peace, and charity throughout human society.
That this goal may be realized in the fullest sense — that is, with the triumph of the kingdom of truth, justice, peace, and charity — We exhort all Our children in Christ to be ‘of one heart and one soul’ and to pour out ardent prayers in October to our Queen in heaven and our loving Mother.”
The intentions of the pope have traditionally concerned the spiritual welfare of the entire Church and the salvation, unity, and peace of the human family.