Pope Francis officially opened the Year of Prayer on Sunday, with the Vatican saying it will prepare the groundwork for the Jubilee year in 2025.
In remarks on Sunday, the Holy Father said the purpose was the year was “to rediscover the great value and absolute need for prayer, prayer in personal life, in the life of the Church, prayer in the world.”
He invited Christians to pray for unity and peace, in particular, given the many conflicts and persecutions occurring across the world.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation’s section for new evangelisation, which is coordinating the Holy Year, said the Year of Prayer would spiritually enrich the life of the Church and be a sign of hope in the world.
“[The spiritual significance of the jubilee can] emerge more clearly, something which goes far beyond the necessary and urgent forms of structural organization," said Archbishop Fisichella.
“[The jubilee must be] prepared for and lived in individual communities with that spirit of expectation which is typical of Christian hope.”
The Dicastery of Evangelisation said it was providing several resources to help bishops, dioceses, parishes, families, and religious communities rediscover the value of and need for daily prayer.
It will release an eight-volume series of booklets titled Notes on Prayer. The series will be made available to the world’s bishops’ conferences as translations are done.
While the year will not be marked with any particular initiatives, it will be about encouraging people to discover prayer and educate others in prayer.
“So that prayer can be effective and fruitful,” said Archbishop Fisichella.
Pope Francis will also set up a School of Prayer for 2024, similar to his Pope’s “Fridays of Mercy” initiative during the Jubilee of Mercy in 2016.
The 2025 Jubilee will begin with the opening of the Holy Door in St Peter’s Basilica on December 24.