Editorial

The prayer list grows—for peace in people’s lives, for peace in our world

What are you praying for these days?

Family, friends, co-workers and your parish community probably top the list.

Like others, you may include the hungry, the homeless, the elderly, the unborn, the imprisoned—our brothers and sisters who many of us don’t often see, but we know are in need of our assistance and prayers.

But do you stretch yourself beyond those petitions and allow your prayer routine to evolve?

If you stay up to date with the news on both the national and international level, your prayer list invariably grows each day.

Our prayers and support are still desperately needed for those impacted by Hurricane Helene and its remnants that have resulted in more than 230 deaths in the southeast region of the United States. Some communities throughout the region were decimated and will have to be rebuilt. The storm damage was catastrophic, and it will be quite some time before a sense of normalcy returns. In some cases, that may never be possible. Visit tinyurl.com/CCUSAHeleneRelief to donate to recovery efforts. And as of the writing of this editorial, millions of residents along Florida’s central Gulf coast were bracing for Hurricane Milton to come ashore.

The upcoming presidential election on Nov. 5 is also near the top of thoughts for many residents of the U.S. as we decide who will lead our country for the next four years. We are again realizing there is no perfect candidate, but we are still encouraged to exercise our civic responsibility to vote.

As in past elections, we encourage Catholics to peruse the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” before they cast their ballot. It can be found at tinyurl.com/USCCBForming Consciences. As the document reminds us: “We bishops do not intend to tell Catholics for whom or against whom to vote. Our purpose is to help Catholics form their consciences in accordance with God’s truth” (#7).

While many in society try to go beyond party affiliation and label individuals as liberal or conservative, we need to remind them—and ourselves, in some cases—that our faith as Catholics defines who we are. And those tenets must guide us as we go to the ballot box.

Overseas, we see tensions rising by the day in the Middle East, a more than two-year conflict continuing between Ukraine and Russia, and the Church being persecuted in Nicaragua, among other signs of worldly disorder.

The totalitarian regime of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, have continually attacked religious liberty. Beside clergy—including Bishop Rolando Álvarez of the Diocese of Matagalpa, who spent more than 500 days in custody after police arrested him—being exiled from the country, the regime has also forbidden expressions of faith, shuttered Catholic media outlets, cancelled Church charitable projects and halted processions and patron saint celebrations outside of Church property. We must lift up in prayer those in that Central American country who are constantly threatened for having the courage to live out their faith.

It has also been a year since Hamas (a militant movement and one of the Palestinian territories’ two major political parties in the Gaza Strip) launched a brutal attack on Israel that left 1,200 people dead and thousands injured. During the siege, 250 people were taken hostage—many who are still being held captive. The tragedy has been referred to as “Israel’s 9-11,” and sadly, the conflict that ensued continues, with Israeli forces killing nearly 42,000 Palestinians since the attack, according to Palestinian health authorities. As a result, tensions are rising throughout the region. Please, Lord, we pray for peace.

The conflicts are always on Pope Francis’ mind and in his prayers. His unwavering commitment as our universal shepherd to bring peace to our troubled world never ceases. In fact, the pope each day calls the Gaza Strip’s only Catholic parish, Holy Family, to provide spiritual solace.

During the 38th “International Meeting for Peace” in Paris organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio, the Holy Father again said working for peace in the world must be a priority.

In a message sent to the gathering and read during a closing event in front of Notre Dame Cathedral on Sept. 24, Pope Francis said that “the risk that the many conflicts will dangerously spread instead of ending is more than real,” and that he takes up “your cry and that of the many people affected by war, and I address it to political leaders: Stop the war! Stop the wars! We are destroying the world! Let us stop while there is still time!”

As members of God’s family, we are called to pray for our brothers and sisters across the globe. In our call to missionary discipleship, we must always remember: faith is not something we do, it is something we live.

—Mike Krokos