Top photo caption: Pope Leo XIV prays for respect for human life as his July 2026 prayer intention in this screenshot from a “Pray with the Pope” video released by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network on July 2. OSV News illustration/Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network
By Deborah Castellano Lubov / Vatican News, OSV News
Vatican News — Pope Leo XIV has urged Catholics across the globe to join him this July in praying for respect for human life.
Watch the video here:
In his prayer intention for the month of July, the Pope is praying “for the respect and protection of human life in all its stages, recognizing it as a gift from God.”
A video of the Pope praying for respect for human life was released by the Vatican July 2. The monthly “Pray with the Pope” video is prepared by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.
Recognizing that the Lord has created each person in love and calls everyone to live in fullness, the Pope said in the video: “Each person is a sacred gift that reflects your face from the first instant of existence to the final breath of their journey on earth.”
“Today,” he continued, “we ask for the grace to recognize and protect the unique and unrepeatable value of every human being.”
Pope Leo expressed his wish for everyone to learn to “welcome life unconditionally,” to “tenderly care for fragility,” to “accompany each stage with respect,” and “to bravely defend those who have no voice.”
The Pope also asked the Lord to forgive “when we fall into indifference or the culture of discard, when we fail to see in others a being worthy of love.”
“Give us a new heart, always ready to choose life,” he prayed, “and generous hands that protect it through concrete actions.”
The Pope prayed that the Lord help his Church become a living witness of the Gospel of life, “an open home where every life is celebrated, where no one feels unwanted, and where dignity is always honored and protected.”
Finally, Pope Leo concluded by imploring the Lord Jesus to help us love life as he does, “with tenderness, fidelity, and self-giving.”
“May we proclaim, in words and actions,” he said, “that every human life is worth the total gift of ourselves.”
The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which was founded in 1844 as the Apostleship of Prayer, is a Pontifical Work entrusted to the Society of Jesus that was established as a Vatican Foundation by Pope Francis. It releases a prayer intention from the Pope each month as part of its mission to unite Catholics in prayer for the Church’s global concerns.
A version of this story was originally published by Vatican News and distributed through a partnership with OSV News.
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