Pray with the Pope for Evangelization in the City

Vatican City, 31 July 2026. With practically half of the world’s population living in urban areas, Pope Leo XIV dedicates his August prayer intention to “evangelization in the city.” Through this intention, he invites the faithful to discover, in the midst of the anonymity and loneliness that often characterize city life, ways of building open and welcoming homes, “where no one feels invisible.” Through the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network’s “Pray with the Pope campaign, the Holy Father calls the faithful and all people of goodwill to join him each month in praying for his intentions.

​“How many times have we seen the wounded face of a brother or sister, and walked right on by?” asks Father Cristóbal Fones, the international director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. “This intention,” Father Fones adds, “is an invitation that everyone reflect. It begins with an interior transformation that authentic apostolic prayer awakens, so that the Holy Spirit might shed light regarding how we can build more just and welcoming cities in our own contexts, as our Holy Father is asking of us.”

AUGUST: For evangelization in the city

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lord Jesus, Good Shepherd,
You walk through our streets and squares,
enter tall buildings and humble neighborhoods,
and silently accompany millions
who seek meaning amid noise and haste.

You know, Lord, the heart of the city:
its lights and shadows, its noise and loneliness.
We know that cities are called to be places
​of freedom and opportunity,
but they can also become spaces of anonymity and isolation.
That’s why today we ask You for a renewed gaze,
able to discover in urban life
fertile ground for proclaiming your Gospel.

Give us a creative and deep faith,
that doesn’t remain in words,
but becomes flesh through simple and loving gestures.
Make us a Church that goes forth,
able to reach out to the peripheries,
to console those who are lonely,
and to sow fraternity and connection instead of giving in to indifference.

Lord, may our urban communities
be open and welcoming homes,
places where hope is shared,
where no one feels invisible,
and where the joy of your Gospel shines
in the hidden lives of so many brothers and sisters.
Make us your witnesses in the city,
bold and creative missionaries,
who proclaim your Love with their lives--
a Love capable of overcoming haste, noise, and anonymity.

Amen.

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Taken from Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network | Toolkit and other resources