The intention of the Holy Father Leo XIV for the month of July 2026 is as follows: “ For respect for human life . Let us pray for respect for and protection of human life at all stages, recognizing it as a gift from God.”

His encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas,” of May 15, 2016, is founded on the dignity of every human person, and it is precisely on this dignity that human rights are grounded, having their necessary basis in the right to life. In this document, he affirmed: “Human rights are inviolable because they are ‘inherent to the human person and to his dignity.’ Consequently, they are universal and inalienable. […] The first human right is the right to life, from conception to natural death, without which it is impossible to exercise any other right. When this fundamental right is denied—as happens with abortion, the killing of innocents, and euthanasia—we are faced with decisions that the Church judges to be gravely illicit.”

On June 8, in his historic speech delivered at the meeting with members of the Spanish Parliament in the Congress of Deputies, he testified: “If life ceases to be recognized as a fundamental value, what future can our society have? […] All human life must be recognized and protected from conception to natural death, in every circumstance of its existence. When this certainty is obscured, the most vulnerable are the first victims […]”.

John Paul II, also during an apostolic journey to Spain, expressed himself in a parallel, or analogous, manner, stating the following: “I speak of absolute respect for human life, which no person or institution, private or public, can ignore. Therefore, whoever denies a defense to the most innocent and vulnerable human being, to the human being already conceived, though not yet born, would commit a most serious violation of the moral order. The killing of an innocent person can never be legitimized. It would undermine the very foundation of society. […] What sense would it make to speak of the dignity of man, of his fundamental rights, if an innocent person is not protected or if the means or services, private or public, are even provided to destroy defenseless human lives?”

From the foregoing, the following can be deduced: if the right to life is destroyed, if it is annihilated by landmines, human rights are left without foundation, reduced to a castle in the air, without any base to support or sustain them, and then they plummet in a precipitous free fall. That is to say, logically, without the right to life, there are zero human rights left, not a single human right remains standing; all have been eliminated, all have died. For there can be no right that is not based on life. If there is no right to life, no one has human rights. Without the right to life, we are faced only with a black curtain; society has no future. But, in addition, there are currently millions of induced abortions worldwide. At the same time, pro-abortion policies and the abortion market are expanding rapidly across the globe. It is very impressive, very shocking, and extremely painful that these policies and this market are constantly managing to reach places of great international and global influence. Hence the great urgency of this request for monthly prayer proposed by the Holy Father.

Two weeks after his historic address to the Spanish Parliament, and more specifically on June 22nd, in his address to the members of the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation, Pope Leo XIV reiterated the following two important points: the issue of abortion and the elimination of the most vulnerable. He stated: “A doctor should never, based on laboratory algorithms, be allowed to decide on the life of a particular embryo or a particular elderly person! Medicine can never become the servant of programmed death!” In this address, the Pope placed special emphasis on respecting the lives of especially vulnerable people, such as those with Down syndrome. This is a very pertinent observation, since, as the great scientist Jérôme Lejeune foresaw, and as we can currently verify statistically, many children with Down syndrome are eliminated before birth.

The cosmic tragedy of abortion perfectly exemplifies the message that Pope Leo XIV so often repeats in his encyclical: that the human person must become truly human, have compassion, and fulfill the magnificent plan of humanity that God has devised for them, embracing especially the most vulnerable. Technology, political and economic mechanisms are not enough; we must be truly human. We must overcome this crisis of humanity.

Within this plan, it is clear that prayer has immense value, for God is all-powerful. Our hope is in God! There are reasons for hope! Let us pray!