CNA Staff, 06 April, 2021 / 5:55 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Francis is inviting Catholics around the world to pray this month for people risking their lives by standing up for fundamental rights.
The pope made the appeal in his prayer intention for April, released on Tuesday.
“Let us pray for those who risk their lives while fighting for fundamental rights under dictatorships, authoritarian regimes and even in democracies in crisis, that they may see their sacrifice and their work bear abundant fruit,” reads the monthly prayer intention, issued April 6 by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.
The network also released an accompanying video, in which Pope Francis explained the rationale for the prayer intention.
Speaking in Spanish, the pope said: “Defending fundamental human rights demands courage and determination. I’m referring to actively combatting poverty, inequality, the lack of work, land, and housing, and the denial of social and labor rights.”