VATICAN— Pope Francis has asked the Catholic Church to pray for small businesses during the month of August.

“As a consequence of the pandemic and the wars, the world is facing a grave socio-economic crisis,” the pope said in a video message released Aug. 2. “And among those most affected are small and medium-sized businesses.”

He added that “despite the difficulties, they create jobs, fulfilling their social responsibility.”

Among those hit the hardest, the pope mentions stores, workshops, cleaning businesses, transport businesses, and others “that don’t appear on the world’s richest and most powerful lists.”

The Holy Father applauded the dedication of small businesses to change things from the bottom up through “an immense creative capacity.”

“With courage, with effort, with sacrifice, they invest in life, creating wellbeing, opportunities, and work,” Pope Francis said.

“Let us pray for small and medium-sized businesses, hard hit by the economic and social crisis, so that they may find ways to continue operating, and serving their communities,” he concluded.

The video is part of a series created by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network in collaboration with the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

The prayer intention follows prayer requests for the elderly in July and families in June. The July prayer intention coincided with the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly on July 24.