Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network
The Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network is a Pontifical Society of the Catholic Church which encourages Catholics to prayer and action as part of the church's universal mission. The Network provides monthly prayer intentions determined by the Pope. It is particularly inspired by devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and His compassion for the world. Overview Founded in 1844 as the Apostleship of Prayer and renamed in 2016, this ecclesiastic service became a pontifical work in March 2018 when Pope Francis approved the new statutes. In December 2020, the Pope constituted this Pontifical Society as a Vatican Foundation. It is present in 89 countries with a membership of more than 22 million Catholics worldwide. The International Director of the PWPN is Frédéric Fornos, SJ, who was appointed in 2016. History: The Apostleship of Prayer The beginnings The Apostleship of Prayer was founded in 1844 in the south of France. The initiative was first proposed by a Jesuit priest, Francis Xavier Gautrelet, who at the time was the spiritual director of Jesuit students in Vals-près-le-Puy in the south of France. On the eve of the feast day of Saint Francis Xavier (2 December 1844), he outlined the idea to them in