The Apostleship of Prayer, entrusted with the duty, presented the Pope’s intentions. Every month the Holy Father chooses two intentions: one general, the other specifically missionary.
The general intention for April is: «That solid preparation of the candidates for holy orders and permanent training of ordained ministers may be carefully provided for.»
A prayer composed by the Apostleship of Prayer acknowledges that the mission of priests is more difficult every day «in a world that constantly proposes new approaches, fruit of the progress of the sciences, technology and the evolution of society. The word of a person in authority is no longer sufficient.»
The prayer ends as follows: «Lord, may the Church succeed in giving the necessary formation to the candidates for ordination and then conserve their aptitude with a permanent formation that will dispose them to dialogue with the culture of today’s society.»
The missionary intention is «That the missionary spirit ‘ad gentes’ may become a theme of reflection and a matter of constant commitment in the ordinary pastoral activity of the Christian community.»
