The Pope issues his monthly prayer intentions in a video format, as part of efforts by the Jesuit-run Worldwide Prayer Network for the Apostleship of Prayer to better spread his prayer intentions for humanity worldwide.

VATICAN CITY — In a video released on Thursday by Vatican Media, Pope Francis announced that his prayer intention for the month of March is for “the unity of Christians in China.”

“Let us pray together that the Church in China may persevere in its faithfulness to the Gospel and grow in unity,” Pope Francis said.

“The Church wants Chinese Christians to be truly Christians, and to be good citizens,” the pope said, who “promote the Gospel, but without engaging in proselytism.”

The Pope issues his monthly prayer intentions in a video format, as part of effortsby the Jesuit-run Worldwide Prayer Network for the Apostleship of Prayer to better spread his prayer intentions for humanity worldwide.

The Apostleship of Prayer began in 1844 in a Jesuit house of formation in France. It was adopted as a pontifical network by Pope Leo XIII in the 1890s.

“Today, the Church in China looks to the future with hope,” Pope Francis said on Thursday.

In September of 2018, the Holy See reached a provisional agreement with the People’s Republic of China on the ordination of bishops, with the intent of unifying the underground Catholic Church—which had long been loyal to the Holy See—and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), the state-sanctioned Church which had illicitly ordained bishops without Vatican approval.

The Holy See hoped the agreement would normalize conditions for underground