In a festive event on the vigil of Lent, a Jesuit working in the Vatican, Fr. Cristóbal Fones, brought Pope Leo’s prayers to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. More than 250 people gathered to pray, mingle, and learn more about offering our daily prayers and works in union with the intentions of the Holy Father.
From Leo 13 to Leo 14
In the late 1800s, Pope Leo XIII began sharing monthly prayer intentions with the world, asking all people of good will to pray for those issues closest to his heart. Every pope since then has continued the tradition, using the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (PWPN) as his official messenger of prayer. Some people may know PWPN by its historic name, the Apostleship of Prayer; Pope Francis changed the name in 2018.
Pope Leo XIV is taking the pope’s monthly prayer intentions to a new level, dedicating personal time each month to record The Pope Video in three languages. Aleteia faithfully shares these videos with readers and provides additional research and insights into each month’s topic. For example, this article in February announced Pope Leo’s intention for that month: for children with incurable diseases.
The PWPN is a Pontifical Work, with international headquarters in the Vatican and national offices in over 90 countries around the world. Our own United States national office is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, though National Director Fr. Phil Hurley, SJ, and I travel wherever our mission of prayer takes us throughout the US.
On February 17, the PWPN-USA national office paused its typical missionary work of retreats, presentations, and days of reflection in order to enjoy a festive night in downtown Milwaukee. In the grand ballroom of the historic Wisconsin Club, the PWPN hosted an unprecedented “Pray with the Pope” event. Playing up the Mardi Gras timing, guests enjoyed gumbo, shrimp po’ boys, and a variety of other Mardi Gras favorites.
The highlight of the event was a fireside chat with Fr. Phil Hurley, SJ, and Fr. Cristóbal Fones, SJ, International Director of the PWPN. Fr. Fones stopped in Milwaukee as part of his USA visit, which is taking him, among other places, to speak and perform his music at the 2026 RE Congress in Los Angeles.
Fr. Fones has only been serving as International Director for one year, but in that time he has already traveled to 20 countries to meet and pray with PWPN members all over the world.
A chance to sing
A musician by training, the Chilean Jesuit Fr. Fones was appointed the PWPN international director by Pope Francis in 2025. Since moving to the Vatican, Fr. Fones has not had much time to share his musical talents; the February 17 event in Milwaukee provided a unique opportunity to sing and pray with the 250+ enthusiastic Catholics gathered for the event.
The fireside chat covered topics like the two Jesuits' various missions, the history of the PWPN, and the innovative initiatives taking place both in Rome and in the United States to breathe new life into this historic movement and to help 21st-century people do everything they do more prayerfully.
“The event was incredible because you could just sense something bigger was unfolding before our eyes,” said Colin Hutt, who moderated the fireside chat portion of the evening. “I genuinely felt the power of connection and prayer during Father Fones’ song, Father Hurley’s guided prayer, and the Pope’s intention video. I could see the same reaction and momentum building in the crowd.”
Guests at the event commented on the unique tone of the event, which was joyful and prayerful. “I drove home with the biggest smile on my face,” said Darby Koehne. Koehne works as the Director of Advancement for the Church of the Gesu, a Jesuit parish on the campus of Marquette University. She was intrigued by the event invitation which called for people who like to “pray and party.”
Dozens of young people and college students also attended the event, many of them swarming the Jesuits like groupies after the closing song, Salve Regina. At a January 30, 2026, audience with worldwide members of the PWPN, Pope Leo urged his prayer network to pay careful attention to young people, whom he called the “next generation of intercessors.”
Closer to the Pope!
Mia Pfundstein, a young stay-at-home mother who attended the Milwaukee gathering, said that she left the event feeling “hopeful and inspired by the prayer-filled night. I loved the emphasis on the Morning Offering and now have a greater awareness of the pope’s monthly intentions. I feel closer to the Pope now!”
Another young adult in attendance was Marquette University junior Olivia deGuzman, who is also the daughter of event hosts Sharon and Jim deGuzman. For this Marquette student, Fr. Hurley’s guided prayer and opportunity for silence moved her heart: “The moment of silence resonated with me the most.”
I was getting emotional as I looked around and realized we were all part of something much bigger ...
DeGuzman also appreciated the multigenerational fellowship, adding, “the strength of the Catholic community was evident in the way so many people came together to support the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. That sense of connection made the evening even more meaningful for me. While watching the video of Pope Leo beginning the daily offering, I was getting emotional as I looked around and realized we were all part of something much bigger. It was a great way to enter the Lenten season and reflect on the importance of praying every day.”
Fr. Hurley’s comments at the event serve as a powerful reminder to all believers, that our prayers are precious to God. And praying with one another for the pope’s intentions makes a difference in the world.
“Our network reminds us," Hurley said, “that from the beginning, this work was not mainly about starting another group or movement in the Church, but rather to share a way of life in which we offer ourselves daily, pray for the pope’s intentions, and grow closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus – which everyone can do, even while belonging to any of the other various groups or movements or spiritualities in the Church.”
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Grace Mazza Urbanski is the PWPN-USA Assistant National Director.
