Pope Leo XIV has proposed that Catholics pray during November “for a good use of wealth so that, without yielding to the temptation of selfishness, it may always be at the service of the common good and solidarity with those who have less.” The intention, which appeared in the 2026 annual calendar, was released on Tuesday, November 3, through the video “Pray with the Pope,” prepared by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network and whose text was published by the Holy See.
In the video, which carries the motto “Sharing we build the future,” the Pope appears praying in a chapel after initial images of Caravaggio’s “The Calling of Saint Matthew.” His prayer starts from the idea that everything man possesses comes from the Lord: fertile land, the talents received, or the effort of those who came before. “Nothing is ours alone; everything is a shared gift,” the Pontiff affirms.
A plea for forgiveness for hoarding instead of sharing
Pope Leo XIV warns that wealth, whether sought or attained, can harden the heart, enclose people in selfishness, and make them forget the most vulnerable. In the prayer he asks forgiveness for having stored instead of sharing and for having used goods as an instrument of power rather than of service. According to the text, true wealth is found in what is given with love, not in what is accumulated or possessed.
The Pope also implores the Spirit to teach how to use money, time, talents, and opportunities as “instruments of fraternity.” The prayer concludes by asking to be witnesses of a wealth turned into service and mercy, and that every economic or community decision may spring from a free heart that recognizes that everything is destined for all.
A message in line with the World Day of the Poor
November’s intention links with Pope Leo XIV’s message for the 10th World Day of the Poor, titled “The Lord is the refuge of the poor,” and with the Church’s traditional teaching on the universal destination of goods and solidarity with those most in need. The Pope thus proposes that the use of material resources be measured by their contribution to the common good and not by personal accumulation.
The Pontiff’s monthly prayer intentions are disseminated each month in video format through the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which translates them into more than twenty languages. November’s intention can be followed on the page popesprayer.va/praywiththepope.