PRAY WITH THE POPE, FROM YOUR IPHONE
"Click to pray" are not words you'd expect to come out of
the pope's mouth.
But that's what onlookers heard during the traditional
Sunday address from Pope Francis, as he introduced
ClickToPray, an app for communal prayer aimed at young
people.
"The Internet and social media are a resource of our
time," the pope said. From a balcony overlooking St. Peter's
Square, Francis then gestured to a tablet. Father Frédéric
Fornos, international director of the pope's Worldwide Prayer
Network, held up the device for the crowd to see.
"Here," Francis said, "I'll insert the intentions and the prayer
requests for the mission of the Church."
He tapped the screen several times before glancing up at
Fornos.
"Did I do it?" he asked.
The pope has made earnest efforts to embrace
technology, tweeting frequently and calling the Web "a gift from
God." Now he's given his followers a convenient way to turn on
their smart devices and see what the leader of the Catholic
Church is praying for at any given time.
"Pray every day," reads the app when it opens. "Pray
together with others. Give to the community."
More than 18,000 people have clicked on the pope's prayer
intention for January. The prayer, "Young People and the
Example of Mary," focuses on young Catholics, especially in
Latin America. But the app is more democratic than the pope's Sunday
address, with a timeline of prayers from other users that you can
scroll through, similar to a social media feed. People write
prayers for weddings, celebrations, illnesses and more, and
others can click to pray with them or leave a comment.
A prayer in English asks for employment "where I can
make a difference," while another in Italian seeks an end to
international borders. Prayers in Spanish, French, Portuguese
and German have also been posted to the app, ranging from
precise requests to generic expressions of love and fraternity.
In his address, Pope Francis specifically called on young
people to download the app. The pope has long sought to make
the Church relevant for younger generations, as the proportion
of Catholics declines across the world. […]
Available at: https://www.npr.org/2019/01/20/687001314/pray-with-the-pope-fromyour-iphone