Vatican City, Jan 4, 2017 / 04:14 am
After launching the first video series on his monthly prayer intentions last year, Pope Francis has decided to make some changes for 2017 by going back to an older system focusing on just one intention rather than two.
However, true to form, he has also added a novelty: in addition to the one monthly intention, Francis will also issue an "urgent" prayer intention himself each month in order to garner rapid support for the cause.
According to a recent blog post by Fr. James Kubicki, national director of the U.S. branch of the Apostleship of Prayer, the Pope decided to launch an urgent intention "given the speed of communication in the digital age."
While the 12 monthly prayer intentions for 2017 have already been published on the Apostleship of Prayer's website, Francis will announce his urgent intention during his first Sunday Angelus address of each month.