Pope Leo’s Prayer Intention for August 2025: For mutual coexistence – Let us pray that societies where co-existence seems more difficult might not succumb to the temptation of confrontation for ethnic, political, religious, or ideological reasons.
At first sight, Pope Leo’s prayer intention for August seems almost hesitant. We might expect that prayer for relationships between people will ask for love, friendship, generosity and reconciliation. Indeed, any of the Church’s prayers for society beg for these rich aspects of love. In this intention, however, we are asked to pray for smaller gifts – for co-existence in which people live tolerantly with one another and do not come to blows. We are to pray for the absence of violence and not for the blessings of mutual love. The intention of the prayer refers to societies in which there are strong divisions that can readily result in violent conflict. In these situations, peaceful co-existence is not to be taken for granted. It can be a surprising gift.
The tensions that make even coexistence a blessing often have deep roots. They can involve religious difference traced back to persecution and battles fought centuries ago, but still held passionately in memories. They can be based on differences of race, colour and wealth, which are also deeply rooted. They nurture resentment and inequality, which find expression in violent action. Hostility between different groups is embodied in the culture of many societies.
The Pope’s intention focuses on the risk that these differences will not fade away but will grow. In any society, many forces favour conflict and not reconciliation. Our experience of bushfires in Australia has shown us that some people feel driven to start fires. Similarly, we see that in societies that are divided into hostile groups, some people will speak hatefully of the members of other groups, will start rumours of violence against their own group, and will try to strengthen hatred in society. Politicians who seek support often try to exploit prejudice against other religious or racial groups. Those who benefit from the inequality in society can use social media to sow prejudice against minority groups who are campaigning for justice. In a divided society, these things can easily lead to violence. We have seen this in Australia in the recent attacks against Jews, Indigenous Australians and Muslims.
In a peaceful world, the absence of confrontation may seem to be a small thing. But in fact, it is a necessary beginning to the building of peace and tolerance. It waters the soil of tolerance in which, later, we can plant seeds of cooperation and of working together that will flower into harmony and generosity. When people in society shape up to one another with clenched fists, their first step to reconciliation must be to unclench their fists. Then they can begin to walk the positive path of listening to one another, reluctantly shaking hands and eating together, which will perhaps lead to an open and generous relationship of forgiveness and trust.
Fr Andrew Hamilton SJ writes for Jesuit Communications and Jesuit Social Services.
