The "Pope Video" celebrates its fifth anniversary
VATICAN NEWS
The Pope's Video", the global initiative - now in its fifth year - through which every month Pope Francis shares his prayer intentions for humanity and the Church's mission with the faithful, will include new language versions including Filipino and Maya-Q'eqchi. His reflections and invitations to join in prayer will soon be available in 23 languages, becoming increasingly "viral".
The "Pope Video" was launched by the Pope's World Prayer Network in 2016 in nine official languages: Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Dutch, Arabic and traditional Chinese. Over time, the project has grown and more languages have been added, including Vietnamese, simplified Chinese, Polish, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Catalan, Lithuanian, Slovenian, Hindi, Russian, Korean and Japanese. This year, on the fifth anniversary, two more languages will be added.
Over 155 million views on social media
To date, the videos in which the Pontiff has asked people to pray for those who are most fragile or for countries in difficulty, for a world free of weapons or for a more humane finance, have reached more than 155 million views on Vatican and partner social networks. They have been quoted in over 17,500 articles in the international press.
Fr Fornos: "It is important to understand the Pope in your own language"
Fr Frédéric Fornos S.J., international director of the World Prayer Network, explains how important it is that the Pope's message reaches all languages and cultures: "Prayer is at the heart of the Church's mission, as Pope Francis tells us. To pray is to enter into a communication of love with the Father, it is a deep, intimate relationship, and there is nothing better than to speak to him in one's own language. Like when Jesus spoke to His Father in his Aramaic language: 'Abba', 'Father'. To pray for the challenges of humanity and the mission of the Church, there is nothing better than to understand the prayer intention of the Pope in one's own language. Everyone prays in their own language, but we are all united in prayer".
The project is funded exclusively by donations, which are possible through the website "The Pope Video".
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