The world lost a great leader this week – Pope Francis – head of the Catholic Church since 2013 until his death at the age of 88 on April 21st, just one day after giving his Easter address.
Although World in Prayer provides ecumenical prayers, this week, in honour of the man who brought liberation to many by denouncing the twin evils of poverty and inequality, speaking out against the death penalty, and even making strides to include the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community, we will be interspersing some of Pope Francis’s quotes with the prayers.
Having recently observed Earth Day, we also acknowledge with gratitude Pope Francis’s concern for the environment specifically regarding deforestation, pollution, and human-caused climate change that is disproportionately harming the poor.
We acknowledge that some have had a difficult experience with the Catholic Church, including the Indigenous Canadians who were harmed through state-sanctioned residential schools and foster care, and we give thanks for the Pope’s work in apologizing to those harmed by Catholicism’s colonial history, his move to improve transparency and accountability within the Roman Catholic Church, his desire for inclusion of all people, and his pivotal role in promoting inter-faith dialogues.
Loving God,
We come before you this week acknowledging that we live in a world where death and pain are evident, a world where the faithful eventually depart, a world that is ever-changing. We give thanks for the legacy of love and faithfulness shown through Pope Francis, and through those world leaders who strive for justice, equality, and peacebuilding.
A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.
And so, we pray that mercy will be shown in situations where it is needed the most.
In Gaza, where 15 medics died and were buried in mass graves because of the professional failures of the Israeli military. We pray for an end to the bloodshed and terror that so many innocent families are experiencing, especially after Israeli President, Benjamin Netanyahu, claims to have no choice but to continue fighting, citing his desire to destroy Hamas, free the hostages, and ensure that there are no more threats to Israel. We pray that your grace and mercy will fall upon those who are being destroyed because of hatred and spite.
We also lift up the faithful Christians of Gaza – many of whom knew the Pope well and considered him a dear friend. During 18 months of war, the Pope would call nightly to check on their well-being. Even during his final address, the Pope urged for an end to the war. And so, we pray for the minority Christians in Gaza who this week have lost a source of comfort and support.
Too often we participate in the globalization of indifference. May we strive instead to live in global solidarity.
Lord, we acknowledge that it is easy to avert our eyes from situations which trouble us.
Whether those situations are close to home: such as the opioid epidemic in Canada and the United States, the lack of affordable housing which is causing many in our world to be forced into homelessness, or the human trafficking that happens underneath our noses.
Or situations which seem much more removed from us, such as the United Nations World Food Program that is being forced to halt life-saving aid for more than 3.6 million people worldwide due to a lack of funding.
We pray that we would not become indifferent to the wars raging in our world including in Ukraine and Russia where despite calling an Easter Truce, allegations of violations from both sides occurred within only 30 hours.
It’s hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help, someone who is hungry or thirsty, toss out someone who is in need of help…if I am a Christian but do these things, I’m a hypocrite.
We pray for areas in the world where people are unsafe because of who they are, who they love, or where they live.
We pray for the United States where massive nationwide deportations have occurred, oftentimes putting people in dangerous situations in their country of origin. We pray that all immigrants, and refugees will find shelter and security, despite President Trump’s crack down on illegal immigration and his consideration of enacting the rarely used 19thCentury Insurrection Act.
We pray also for India where over 26 tourists (mostly Indian) were killed by gunmen at a resort in Kashmir. Kashmir has seen a rise in targeted killings of Hindus and immigrant workers from Indian states after New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019 and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties, and media freedom.
We lift up Canada in the upcoming federal elections on April 28th and we pray that the newly elected Federal Members of Parliament, as well as the new Prime Minister, would govern with fairness, justice, and compassion.
We pray for Ireland as a large fire in County Donegal destroyed St. Mary’s Church in Derrybeg, Gweedore (one of the largest churches in the diocese of Raphoe). We pray for the priests and the parishioners to find comfort in their time of loss.
We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded, and preach peace.
Creator God, even though our world often feels heavy, and we often wonder what we can do to make a difference, we give thanks that the Good News still has the last word.
We rejoice that even out of suffering, new life and new hope abound. And so, we give thanks that the Vatican has named the 167 people who died in the Easter bombing in Sri Lanka as ‘Heroes of Faith’.
As we consider Earth Day, we give thanks that in Australia, according to a study by CSIRO (Australia’s National Science Agency), there has been a 39% reduction in plastic along Australian coastlines in the last decade, and a 16% increase in areas with no plastic debris at all.
In a time when many are financially struggling with the high cost of living, we give thanks for the news from the World Bank’s ‘State of Social Protection Report 2025’ that 4.7 billion people from low- and middle-income countries have now gained access to social protection over the last decade. We continue to pray for the remaining 2 billion people in vulnerable regions, who are still uncovered, or inadequately covered, by social protection.
And when health issues abound, such as the global increase of measles due to a lack of vaccinations, we give thanks for medical breakthroughs, such as more intensive treatments for heart failure in patients (first trialed at St. George’s Hospital in London, England) which have led to a 62% reduction in deaths, and significantly reduced the pressure on the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK by reducing readmittance rates by 30%.
Gracious God, in these often confusing, difficult, and complicated times, help us better to live out the words of Pope Francis who urged us to believe that we all have a duty to do good and that we must always find new ways to spread the Word of God to every corner of the world.
Amen.
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