Pope's June prayer intention: 'That the world might grow in compassion'
Pope Leo XIV releases his first monthly prayer intention for the month of June, inviting the faithful to pray "that each one of us might find consolation in a personal relationship with Jesus, and from His Heart, learn to have compassion on the world." Jun 04, 2025
By Deborah Castellano LubovPope Leo XIV's monthly prayer intention for June, the month traditionally dedicated to devotion to the Heart of Jesus, is "that the world might grow in compassion."
The Pope invited the Church to pray for this intention in this month's The Pope Video, which is entrusted to the entire Catholic Church through the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network.
For the first time since the Holy Father's election as 266th Successor of Peter on 8 May 2025, we hear Pope Leo XIV's voice presenting The Pope Video prayer intention.
The Pope Video for June begins with hearing Pope Leo pray "that each one of us might find consolation in a personal relationship with Jesus, and from His Heart, learn to have compassion on the world."
The video also presents an original prayer to the Sacred Heart.
Prayer to the Sacred Heart
A woman's voice leads the prayer, which begins, "Lord, I come to Your tender Heart today, to You who have words that set my heart ablaze, to You who pour out compassion on the little ones and the poor, on those who suffer, and on all human miseries."
Next, it expresses the desire to know the Lord better, to contemplate Him in the Gospel, to be with Him, and to learn from Him and His charity.
Remembering how Christ "showed us the Father's love by loving us without measure with Your divine and human Heart," the prayer implores, "Grant all Your children the grace of encountering You."
With this sentiment, it asks for the Lord's closeness and involvement in our daily lives. "Change, shape, and transform our plans," the prayer continues, "so that we seek only You in every circumstance: in prayer, in work, in encounters, and in our daily routine."
Finally, the supplication asks that the Lord, from this encounter, send us out on a mission of compassion and consolation for the world.
The images accompanying this prayer were filmed in the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus in Rome, where one finds the famous image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Pompeo Batoni, the restoration of which will be completed by the end of the month; and the National Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Makati, in the Philippines, which is a popular religious destination for the Archdiocese of Manila.
Sacred Heart at the heart of pontificates
The Church has traditionally dedicated the entire month of June to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The relevance of the Sacred Heart to the life of the Church is demonstrated both in popular devotion and in the fact that four Popes have dedicated an encyclical to the topic.
Pope Leo XIII, whose name the current Pope took, wrote Annum Sacrum in 1899, in which he consecrated all of humanity to the Heart of Jesus. In 1928, Pope Pius XI, in Miserentissimum Redemptor, invited us to make reparation through acts of love for the wounds our sins inflict on the Heart of Christ. For his part, Pope Pius XII published Haurietis aquas in 1956, in which he explores the theological basis for devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Most recently, Pope Francis wrote Dilexit nos in 2024, and proposed devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a response to the throwaway culture and the culture of indifference.
The Pope Video
The Pope Video is an official global initiative with the purpose of disseminating the Holy Father's monthly prayer intentions. It is carried out by the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer).
Since 2016, The Pope Video has had more than 247 million views across all the Vatican's social networks, and is translated into more than 23 languages, receiving press coverage in 114 countries.
This video, produced by The Pope Video Prayer Network team, coordinated by Andrea Sarubbi, and created with the help of Coronation Media, is distributed with the help of the La Machi agency and the collaboration of Vatican Media.
The Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network is a Pontifical Society, with the mission of mobilizing Catholics through prayer and action in response to the challenges facing humanity and the mission of the Church.--Vatican News
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And it's been very, very valuable being part of those ad limina visits, the bishops that come to meet with the members of the Commission. And it's very gratifying to see the interest and the desire of the bishops to learn more and to receive help in this whole area. Unfortunately, very often, bishops have been very isolated and trying to make very challenging decisions and policy decisions by themselves. It lends itself to a lot of mistakes and/or at times, inaction. And so, trying to strengthen the bishops' conferences and promote greater lay participation in safeguarding in the dioceses throughout the world has, I think, been a very important contribution of the Commission. Q. And you mentioned the annual reports, which are a new part of your work. I think the first one was just last year. You're currently preparing the new annual report. Can you tell us what is going into that? What can we expect about the upcoming report that's currently being prepared? A. Well, in October, we hope to publish the annual report for 2024. And the main theme will be reparations and conversional justice. But this report has been distilled out of meetings of ad limina visits of 22 different countries and two religious congregations, where we have had an opportunity to be in conversations with these communities, with these bishops' conferences about safeguarding, and the statistics, their policies, how they've been executed, what the challenges have been, what the mistakes have been. And so this will allow us to continue to promote transparency in the Church, allow people to see what is happening, the good things as well as the deficiencies. And I think the annual report is going to be a very important part of our mission going forward. Q. And you spoke about your role as advisors to the Holy Father in the area of safeguarding. And of course, we have a new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. Can you tell us just a little bit what the priorities are in the Church today with regard to the prevention of child abuse? A. Well, I think the priorities are the same as ever. I mean, we're trying to put the victims and their families first. But certainly, transparency; in the past, the worst… actions of the church were covering up the crimes, not reporting them. So, working with the civil authorities is a very, very important step forward: transparency, letting people know what's happening; a sense of responsibility; and the importance of a whole educational process in the Church, so that people realize that the Church, by our very mission, needs to be an expression of God's love and mercy, and therefore the care and protection of the children and young people needs to be central in our mission. And as I say, people will listen to our message only if they are convinced that we care about them. We care about their children. We care about the safety of their children. And so these are the ongoing priorities. And Pope Francis, of course, called for that summit a few years ago, brought together the heads of all the bishops' conferences, and challenged them to take these things seriously. And that was also a very important step forward. But as I say in the global South, many of the countries are just beginning to grapple with this, and the commission is particularly focused on trying to help them… Q. And in fact, we've seen a rising awareness within the Church over these past few years and even decades. But we've also seen the commitment of all of the recent popes, not just Pope Francis, but also Benedict and John Paul II. Can you say that the commitment of the popes has been matched by a new awareness throughout the Church? And what signs of hope do you see as we go forward in these coming years? A. Well, I think the declarations of the Holy Fathers have been very important. Obviously, the secular media and even the church media have been very instrumental in making these issues known to people. Certainly, it's been very painful, but an important process. The truth is what will set us free, as the Gospels say. And so the role of the media has been very, very important. But very often that was met with scepticism on the part of Catholics: 'Oh, this is anti-Catholicism.' Or, 'It's all about money' or 'These are lies.' So when the Holy Fathers have weighed in and calling for transparency and asking for forgiveness and meeting with victims, that has helped to raise the awareness of the Catholics and people throughout the world. And although so much attention has been given to the Church, recently, at least in the [United] States, a lot of attention has been given to the Scouts, public schools, or sporting groups. And so it is a human problem. But those of us who are in the Church see how terrible it is when this takes place within the Church, the kind of betrayal that people feel of their religious sentiments and their devotion and faith. And so there's another dimension that, in many ways, makes the abuse even more horrible. Q. Your Eminence, there are obviously a lot of questions that could be asked about protecting minors and the Church's role. I think we're close to the end of our time today. Is there anything else that you'd like to add? A. I just want to say that it has been such a privilege for me to have served on the Commission all these years, and to work with such wonderful and dedicated people on our staff, the members of the Commission. And I'm very, very grateful to Pope Francis for having founded it and having supported it. And I know the Commission is very anxious to work with Pope Leo going forward.--Vatican News
