In remarks after the Angelus on Sunday, January 21st, the Holy Father explained that the Year of Prayer 2024 is dedicated “to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer, prayer in personal life, in the life of the Church, prayer in the world.”

He added that the Dicastery for Evangelization will be preparing materials to assist in celebrating the Year.

Pilgrimages of prayer

In preparation for the Jubilee, dioceses and Church groups are invited to promote initiatives to remind people of the centrality of both individual prayer and community prayer. One idea might be for “pilgrimages of prayer” to be organised at a diocesan level – these would be effectively courses or ‘schools of prayer’ with monthly or weekly meetings, presided over by the local bishops, but open to the entire People of God.

In addition, to help mark this year more fruitfully, the Dicastery for Evangelisation will publish a series of “Prayer Notebooks”, with material taken from the many forms of prayer to be found in the rich Catholic tradition.

To follow the news and have access to the materials that will be published, go to the official Jubilee 2025 website – iubilaeum2025.va/en

Prayer for Christian unity, peace in the world

At the Angelus, the Pope invited Christians to pray especially for Christian unity, and “to not tire of invoking the Lord for peace in Ukraine, in Israel and Palestine, and in so many other parts of the world,” including Ecuador.

Once again he emphasized that those who suffer most from the lack of peace are the weakest among us. “I think of the little ones,” Pope Francis said, “the many children who are injured and killed, those who are deprived of affection, deprived of their dreams and their future.”

“Let us all be aware of our responsibility to pray and to build peace for them!”

– Download the jubilee app here

With information from: vaticannews.va/en