Today marks the release of the video with Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for June 2025: “To grow in compassion for the world.” This is the first time that Leo XIV’s voice appears in The Pope Video, asking the faithful to pray for his intentions. This month, he asks us to pray “that each of us may find consolation in a personal relationship with Jesus, and learn from his heart compassion for the world.”

“Lord, today I come to your tender Heart, to You who have words that kindle mine, to You who pour out compassion on the little ones and the poor, on those who suffer, and on all human misery. I desire to know You better, to contemplate You in the Gospel, to be with You, and to learn from You and from the love with which You allowed Yourself to be touched by all forms of poverty. You showed us the love of the Father, loving us without measure with your divine and human Heart. Grant all your children the grace of encountering You. Change, shape, and transform our plans, so that we may seek You alone in every circumstance: in prayer, at work, in encounters, and in our daily routine. And from this encounter, send us on a mission; a mission of compassion for a world in which You are the source from which all consolation flows. Amen.”

The video presents a previously unpublished prayer to the Sacred Heart in which we turn to Christ to ask Him to help us know Him better, to be with Him, and to learn from His love; May He transform us so that it may be our goal in every circumstance of daily life; and may He send us on a mission of compassion that brings His consolation to the world. The images accompanying this prayer were filmed at the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus in Rome—home to Pompeo Batoni’s famous painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whose restoration will be completed this month—and at the National Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Makati, in the Philippines, which represents a goal of popular devotion for the entire Archdiocese of Manila.

Symbol of God’s Love

Traditionally, the Church dedicates the entire month of June to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, inviting believers to embrace Christ’s gaze on humanity and to act with the sentiments of His Heart, especially to alleviate the suffering of the weakest.

The Heart of Christ symbolizes his personal center, from which his love for humanity springs: it is the mystery of the heart of God, which is moved and pours out its love upon all men and women of the world, of all times.

Although devotion to the Heart of Christ has always been present in Christian spirituality, it gained renewed popularity with the revelations to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque and its interpretation by Saint Claude de La Colombière SJ in the 17th century. Pope Pius IX proclaimed the feast of the Sacred Heart in 1856; later, Leo XIII reinforced its importance, elevating it to a solemnity in 1889.

A good example of the relevance of the Sacred Heart in the life of the Church is found both in popular devotion and in the fact that four Popes have dedicated an encyclical to it. Leo XIII, after whom the current Pontiff takes his name, wrote the Annum Sacrum in 1899; In it, he consecrates all of humanity to the Heart of Jesus. In 1928, Pius XI, in Miserentissimum Redemptor, invites us to repair with gestures of love the wounds inflicted on the Heart of Christ by our sins. For his part, Pius XII, in 1956, published Haurietis Aquas, in which he delved into the theological basis of devotion to the Sacred Heart. Finally, in 2024, Pope Francis wrote Dilexit Nos and proposed devotion to the Heart of Christ as a response to the throwaway culture and indifference.

Growing in Compassion

The International Director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, Fr. Cristóbal Fones, S.J., explains that Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention focuses on growing in compassion for the world through a personal relationship with Jesus: “By cultivating this relationship of true closeness, our hearts become more conformed to his, we grow in love and mercy, and we better learn what compassion is. Jesus showed unconditional love for all, especially the poor, the sick, and the suffering. The Pope encourages us to imitate this compassionate love by reaching out to those in need.”

“Compassion,” Father Fones continues, “seeks to alleviate suffering and promote human dignity. Therefore, it translates into concrete actions that address the roots of poverty, inequality, and exclusion, to contribute to building a more just and supportive world.”

The Way of the Heart

Father Cristóbal Fones also explains that the mission of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is precisely inscribed in the mission of compassion for the world that begins with the Heart of Jesus: “Our formation path—The Way of the Heart—helps us enter into a mission of compassion for the world from a relationship of friendship with Jesus, not from our own voluntarism. It is a spiritual path to attune ourselves to the Heart of Jesus, in order to have a heart more like His and to go out to meet our brothers and sisters by participating in His mission. Union with Christ enables us to perceive the world’s challenges through His eyes and to mobilize ourselves to face them through prayer and service. Thus,” Father Fones concludes, “this path transforms us more and more each day into apostles of prayer, into missionary disciples for a mission of compassion for the world to which all are invited.”

Finally, in the context of the Holy Year 2025, the Pope’s video takes on special relevance because it reveals the prayer intentions the Holy Father holds in his heart. To properly receive the graces of the Jubilee indulgence, it is necessary, precisely, to pray for the Pope’s intentions.