Pope Leo’s prayer intention for October 2025: For collaboration between different religious traditions – Let us pray that believers in different religious traditions might work together to defend and promote peace, justice, and human fraternity.
Pope Leo’s prayer intention for October is huge. He does not pray simply that we shall work together in our relationships within the Catholic Church, in those between Christian Churches, nor in those between the Great Religions. He prays that we human beings might collaborate in all our religious traditions. Nor does he pray only that we shall build good relationships with one another, but that we shall come together to build a better world. That work will involve us at all levels.
In his prayer Pope Leo invites us to enlarge our imagination of what it means to be human. That will shape the kind of peace we shall struggle to build. It is tempting to shrug our shoulders and say that making peace is impossible. As we see daily the suffering of the people of Gaza, however, we should no longer accept that it is natural for human beings and nations to be at war with one another. We are called to work at making peace. We should come together with people of all religions and none to demand that our government not export weapons for groups at war with one another. Where there are areas of hostility within our nation and tensions between different groups, we should relate to both groups and seek ways to bring them together.
If we try to build peace, we shall soon recognise the causes of hostility and conflict. If people are treated unjustly and unfairly by others, they will naturally be hostile to them. The sense of injustice can be kept alive for centuries after atrocities in war. Peaceful relationships need to be based on fairness and justice. Injustice often takes root in society and becomes grounded in laws that disadvantage particular groups. In Australia, for example, many laws governing child justice target Indigenous children and blight their adult lives. Religious groups have an important part in arguing persuasively for a more just solution to problems and promoting it in order to build a more just society.
Underlying a peaceful and just society are respectful relationships between individuals and groups within it. If we regard others as our brothers and sisters, as most religious traditions urge us to do, we may still come into conflict with one another, but we are more likely to return to accept one another. The slogan that inspired the French Revolution was Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. Of these three qualities, fraternity enables equality and liberty to thrive. Unless we see one another as brothers and sisters, we are likely to destroy one another when we struggle for freedom or for equality.
The history of our relationships with other religious groups is often marked by times of conflict and prejudice. That is why our coming together to commend fraternity can be particularly powerful. If we take it to heart and put it into practice, Pope Leo’s prayer intention can help build a better world.
Fr Andrew Hamilton SJ writes for Jesuit Communications and Jesuit Social Services.
