Pope Francis appointed Chilean Jesuit priest Cristóbal Fones as the new international director of the Pope’s World Prayer Network, a pontifical work whose mission is to promote and encourage the Holy Father’s monthly prayer intentions.
According to a note from the website of the Pope’s Global Prayer Network, Fr. Fones will succeed Fr. Frédéric Fornos, taking office on January 1, 2025.
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The Chilean Jesuit was appointed by the Pope after the suggestion of the current Superior General of the Jesuits, the Venezuelan priest Arturo Sosa, because it was a pontifical work entrusted to the Society of Jesus.
“I ask you to accompany me with your prayers and I invite you to continue encouraging one another in this mission of compassion, at the service of those who suffer, strengthening a serious commitment to the mission of Jesus in the midst of a world that longs and needs so much. justice and peace,” wrote the P. Fones on Facebook after his appointment.
What is the Pope’s World Prayer Network?
The Pope’s World Prayer Network, according to its websiteis a “pontifical work, whose mission is to mobilize Catholics through prayer and action, in the face of the challenges of humanity and the mission of the Church. These challenges are presented in the form of prayer intentions entrusted by the Pope to the entire Church.”
“It was founded in 1844 as the Apostolate of Prayer. It is present in 92 countries and is made up of more than 22 million Catholics. It includes its youth branch, the EYM – Eucharistic Youth Movement,” he adds.
In December 2020, Pope Francis established this pontifical work as a Vatican foundation and approved its new statutes.
Who is Cristóbal Fones, new director of the Pope’s World Prayer Network?
Father Cristóbal Fones Claro was born on March 11, 1975 in Calera de Tango, about 30 kilometers from Santiago de Chile. He is 49 years old. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1994.
He studied Theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and obtained a canonical degree in Sacramental and Liturgical Theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC (United States).
He studied music—which he has also dedicated himself to for some years as a singer-songwriter—at the Berklee College of Music. from Boston (United States). He was ordained a priest in 2007.
Father Fones has worked in the spiritual accompaniment of young adults and schoolchildren in Chile. Until before this appointment he was Delegate for the Formation of the Jesuits of the Province of Chile.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.