In the framework of the “24 Hours for the Lord,” the “App” of the Pope’s Worldwide Network of Prayer: “Click to Pray, was launched Friday. This was announced to ZENIT in the days leading up to the release by French Jesuit Father Frederic Fornos, international director of the Pope’s worldwide network of prayer (Apostolate of Prayer) and of its branch for young people, the Eucharistic Movement of Young People. This branch springs from the Jesuits’ charism, and falls under the responsibility of the Father Adolfo Nicolas, who presented this project to Pope Francis, who approved it in July 2015.
Closer to the Heart of Jesus
The Pope, stressed Father Fornos, has the conviction that the prayer of the baptized must and the aid application must be stimulated to pray three times a day for the Pope’s intentions, in communion with the whole Church. It is a means to “be closer to the Heart of Jesus by praying for humanity.”
He presented what can be translated as “A Click to Pray”: an application for iPhone, Android or Windows Phone, to tele-charge freely on line to remain linked each day of the month to Pope Francis’ prayer intentions.
“In this Holy Year of Mercy, Catholics are especially invited to prayer for the Holy Father’s intentions; that is why we made the choice to launch this application. It is in fact a platform of communication in several social networks to mobilize one for the challenges of humanity and of the mission of the Church,” explained Father Fornos.
This platform of prayer is in fact linked to a Facebook page, a Twitter account and YouTube, with a “newsletter” and a “blog,” in order to expand further this international network of prayer, which already gathers some 35 million people in 98 countries of the world around the Pope’s intentions. This was especially seen on the First Friday of the month, as Pope Francis reminded at his March 2 Wednesday General Audience that, «The day after tomorrow will be the first Friday of the month, dedicated to the devotion to the Heart of Jesus.”
The Great Challenges of Humanity and of the Mission of the Church
For the moment, the “App” has been developed in French, Portuguese, Spanish and English. Next year, it will offer this service in other languages: Italian, then Chinese, Indonesian, Korean, etc.
The inauguration took place on the occasion of the “24 Hours for the Lord,” the initiative of prayer desired by Pope Francis, as part of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, with the possibility to receive mercy sacramentally and to pray at night.
This “App” is the second initiative of the Pope’s worldwide network of prayer (Apostolate of Prayer) this year, after the presentation of the videos of Pope Francis prayer intentions in January and February: 500 million people saw the first and already 30 million the second.
The “App” was first a project born in Portugal for young people, and its success — 80,000 adherents — in concomitance with the Jubilee extended the project to the whole world “to help pilgrims to pray with the Pope for the great challenges of humanity and of the mission of the Church in this Year of Mercy.”
How It Works
The application “Click to Pray” gives access first of all to Pope Francis prayer intentions of each month: the universal intention (in March, families in difficulty) and the intention of missionary prayer (persecuted Christians).
It gives the possibility to pray three times a day, thus constituting a veritable little school of prayer: “In the morning, with Jesus to entrust our life to the Lord and in communion with the whole Church; in the middle of the day, a brief prayer to be more open to the Holy Spirit; and in the evening to look with the Lord at the way we were available to Christ’s mission,” explained Father Fornos.
“Click To Pray” is also the sending of a small signal during the day that it is the hour to pray for a moment “in communion with the whole Church and for the very important challenges discerned by Pope Francis for today’s world.”
Moreover, the application enables one to compose one’s own prayer, inscribe an intention, and to invite other persons to pray together for that.
Finally, it gives access to commentaries “on the way of the heart and the way of the spiritual life” proposed by the Apostolate of Prayer.
