Today, the Vatican announced Pope John Paul II new general prayer and mission intentions for this month.

They said that his March prayer intention is, "That governments of every nation, in their policies and development plans, should always take account of the poor, emarginated and oppressed."

The Pope’s new mission intention for the month is, "That each individual Church should be aware of the ever greater urgency of preparing holy Christians, capable of confronting challenges to the new evangelization."