This is Pope Francis’ prayer intention for August 2023

Denver, Colo., Aug 1, 2023 / 02:15 am (CNA).

Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of August is for World Youth Day (WYD).

The video promoting the pope’s prayer intention starts with a group of young people on a video chat saying that when they go to church they only see “old people.”

They then ask, “Is the Church only for old people?”

“The Church is not an old people’s club any more than it is a youth club,” the pope replied.

He added: “If it becomes something for old people, it will die.”

Pope Francis references St. John Paul II, who said: “If you live with young people you become young yourself.”

Another group of young people then asked Pope Francis why he chose the theme “Mary arose and went with haste” for this WYD.

He answered: “Because as soon as Mary knew she was going to be the mother of God, she didn’t stay there taking a selfie or showing off. The first thing she did was to set out on a journey, in haste, to serve, to help.”

“You too have to learn from her to set out on a journey to help others,” he said.

Pope Francis shared that he hopes to see “a seed for the world’s future” in Lisbon. “A world where love is at the center, where we can sense that we are sisters and brothers. We are at war; we need something else. A world that is not afraid of witnessing to the Gospel. A joyful world — because if we Christians have no joy, we are not credible, no one will believe us.”

The video concluded with a prayer: “Let us pray that the World Youth Day in Lisbon will help us young people to set out on the journey, witnessing to the Gospel with our own lives.”

Pope Francis’ prayer video is promoted by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which raises awareness of monthly papal prayer intentions.