The Pope Video for the month of November is dedicated to Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention: “Let us pray that those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts might find the support, care and love they need in their community, and be open to the beauty of life.”
In the words of the prayer read by the Holy Father, “We come to you this month for all the people who live in darkness and despair, may they always find a community that welcomes them, listens to them, and accompanies them.”
He asks the Church – dioceses, parishes, religious congregations, associations of the faithful – to prevent the suffering of those who are desperate, who experience the temptation of taking their own life, which is made even more intolerable by loneliness. Everyone, believers included, “is also vulnerable to sadness without hope.”
He asks the Lord to teach us “how to be close with respect and tenderness” with “an attentive and compassionate heart” to “offer comfort and support” and encourages us to seek “the necessary professional help.”

A global problem

Today, suicide is a relevant theme in contemporary society. In fact, according to the World Health Organisation, around 720,000 people take their lives each year. This is a little less than 2,000 per day.
Over half of the suicides (56%) occur before the age of 50. It particularly affects those between the ages of 15 and 29. For the latter group, suicide is the third leading cause of death; for youth and young adults, it is the second leading cause. 73% of those who take their own lives live in low- and middle-income countries. However, richer nations are not exempt from this risk: in the United States, for example, the current suicide rate is a third higher than it was in 2000.   

The Church: suicide and mental health

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (nos 2280-2283) teaches that suicide contradicts love of self, others and God. It likewise admits that serious psychological disturbances, anxiety or fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish personal responsibility.
At the same time, it invites us not to despair of the eternal salvation of those who have taken their own life, but to entrust them to God’s mercy and to the community’s prayer.
The general practice of the Church today is to treat very respectfully those who have died by suicide, partly because in recent years, the Church has progressively grown in its attentiveness to mental health, both through prayer and its pastoral care.
This is confirmed by the international conference in Rome, which begins tomorrow and is organised by the Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers (ACMHM) under the patronage of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

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Where can the video be seen?

• The Pope Video Official website
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• Twitter/X Verified @Pontifex
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• Official Prayer Platform ClickToPray

The Pope Video is an official global initiative with the purpose of disseminating the Holy Father’s monthly prayer intentions. It is carried out by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer).
Since 2016, the Pope Video has had more than 253m views across all the Vatican’s social networks, and is translated into more than 23 languages, receiving press coverage in 114 countries.