The Pope invited the Church to pray for this intention in this month’s The Pope Video, which is entrusted to the entire Catholic Church through the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. The video is produced and distributed by the Network with the support of the U.S. Diocese of Phoenix, Arizona, and in collaboration with Vatican Media.
Pope Leo XIV dedicates his prayer intention for the month of November to “those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts,” that they “might find support” in their community and “might be open to the beauty of life.”
In the words of the prayer read by the Holy Father, “We come to you You this month for all the people who live in darkness and despair, may they always find a community that welcomes them, listens to them, and accompanies them.” He asks the Church – dioceses, parishes, religious congregations, associations of the faithful – to prevent the suffering of those who are desperate, who experience the temptation of taking their own life, which is made even more intolerable by loneliness. Everyone, believers included, “is also vulnerable to sadness without hope.” He asks the Lord to teach us “how to be close with respect and tenderness,” with “an attentive and compassionate heart,” to “offer comfort and support,” and encourages us to seek “the necessary professional help.”
Accompanying those struggling
Specifically, the video opens with the Pope inviting faithful to join him in praying that “those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts might find the support, care, and love they need in their community, and be open to the beauty of life.” Pope Leo begins his prayer by asking the Lord, who invites “the weary and burdened” to come to Him and to find rest in His heart, to accompany “all the people who live in darkness and despair, especially those struggling with suicidal thoughts.” “May they always,” the Holy Father continued, “find a community that welcomes them, listens to them, and accompanies them.”He prayed the Lord give us all “an attentive and compassionate heart,” “capable of offering comfort and support, also with the necessary professional help.”
Offering tenderness to all vulnerable
“May we know,” the Pope said, “how to be close with respect and tenderness, helping to heal wounds, build bonds, and open horizons.”In this context, Pope Leo prayed, “Together may we rediscover that life is a gift, that there is still beauty and meaning, even in the midst of pain and suffering.”
No one is immune
The Holy Father also clearly acknowledged that arriving in such a dark place can affect anyone, pointing out that even those who follow Jesus are “vulnerable to sadness without hope.” Pope Leo concluded by praying, “We ask You to always make us feel Your love so that, through Your closeness to us, we can recognize and proclaim to all the infinite love of the Father who leads us by the hand to renew our trust in the life You give us. Amen.”
Full Prayer
Let us pray that those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts might find the support, care and love they need in their community, and be open to the beauty of life.
Lord Jesus,
You who invite the weary and burdened
to come to You and rest in Your Heart,
we ask You this month for all the people
who live in darkness and despair,
especially for those struggling
with suicidal thoughts.
May they always find a community
that welcomes them, listens to them, and accompanies them.
Give all of us an attentive and compassionate heart,
capable of offering comfort and support,
also with the necessary professional help.
May we know how to be close with respect and tenderness,
helping to heal wounds, build bonds, and open horizons.
Together may we rediscover that life is a gift,
that there is still beauty and meaning,
even in the midst of pain and suffering.
We are well aware that those who follow You
are also vulnerable to sadness without hope.
We ask You to always make us feel Your love
so that, through Your closeness to us,
we can recognize and proclaim to all the infinite love of the Father
who leads us by the hand to renew our trust in the life You give us.
Amen.
A global problem
Today, suicide is a relevant theme in contemporary society. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, around 720 thousand people take their lives each year. This is a little less than 2 thousand per day. Over half of the suicides (56%) occur prior to the age of 50. It particularly affects those between the ages of 15 and 29. For the latter group, suicide is the third leading cause of death; for youth and young adults, it is the second leading cause. 73% of those who take their own lives live in low- and middle-income countries. However, richer nations are not exempt from this risk: in the United States, for example, the current suicide rate is a third higher than it was in 2000.
The Church: suicide and mental health
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (nos. 2280-2283) teaches that suicide contradicts love of self, others, and God. It likewise admits that serious psychological disturbances, anxiety, or fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish personal responsibility. At the same time, it invites us not to despair of the eternal salvation of those who have taken their own life, but to entrust them to God’s mercy and to the community’s prayer.
The general practice of the Church today is to treat very respectfully those who have died by suicide, partly because in recent years, the Church has progressively grown in its attentiveness to mental health, both through prayer and its pastoral care. This is confirmed by the international conference in Rome, which begins tomorrow and is organized by the Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers (ACMHM) under the patronage of the Pontifical Academy for Life. As Pope Leo’s prayer intention is released, people from all over the world involved in the pastoral care of mental health will gather for three days (November 5-7) in Pius X Hall, located on via dell’Ospedale. They will discuss how the Christian community can accompany people who struggle with mental health issues, depression, and extreme pain, and how to prevent the risk of suicide through listening and proximity. The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network will organize times for them to pray together, and The Pope Video for November, which accompanies the prayer read by Leo XIV, will also be projected.
Listening and prayer
“The theme of preventing suicide,” states Father Cristóbal Fones, S.J., the International Director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, deeply challenges the Church. This is not the first time that a prayer intention highlights the fragility of mental health: in November 2021, Pope Francis asked for prayers for people who suffer from depression; and in April 2020, for those who struggle with addiction. He reminded us that the Christian community is called to take care of interior wounds, too. Pope Leo XIV confirms this and is relaunching this path. He has already indicated that in October 2026, there will be a specific focus on the pastoral care of mental health. This is a sign of his attentiveness regarding this crucial theme for today’s society.
“In November’s prayer, the Pope emphasizes that we are all ‘vulnerable.’ It encompasses every person, including religious and consecrated persons. Our human hearts, just like the Heart of Jesus, are not immune to being wounded and suffering. No one is exempt from the darkness of desperation. This is why the Christian community must become a welcoming place, a place of healing, where those who suffer feel at home.
“The Church is not a substitute for healthcare professionals – psychologists, doctors, therapists. It can carry out an important role by offering proximity, listening, and hope. We can learn in our parishes and dioceses about the types of lifestyles we can construct to promote prevention: reaching out to those who suffer, comforting those who are sad, taking care of each other, sharing the hope that inspires us. This is why the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network has mental health particularly at heart. Each month on the Click To Pray App, we dedicate a day to pray especially for this intention, to support those who are going through a particularly vulnerable time.”
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