VATICAN (OSV News): Pope Leo XIV prayed the rosary with hundreds of children and their families at the Lourdes grotto in the Vatican Gardens on October 1 after the pope invited Catholics to pray the rosary throughout the month of October for peace in the world.
“Tonight and in these coming days, we are not alone in prayer. Across the globe, one million children are praying with us,” Pope Leo told the children.
“One million! Just think: 50 million ‘Hail Marys’ rising to Heaven from every corner of the earth and in every language, asking for peace, and coming together as if in a single, immense rosary, to embrace and bind together all the continents, races, and nations of the planet,” he said.
The prayer with the pope as the sun set over the Vatican Gardens was part of the “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” initiative organised by Aid to the Church in Need, a pontifical foundation that supports persecuted and suffering Christians around the world.
For the first time, the 2026 campaign is taking place over an entire week, from October 1-7, allowing dioceses, parishes, schools, communities and families around the world to choose a day suited to their pastoral circumstances while uniting in prayer for peace and unity. The campaign will conclude on October 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
“Tonight we’ve gathered to be together with the two people who love us more than anyone else. Do you know who they are?” the pope asked the gathered children. “The Lord Jesus and his mother Mary, who never leave us alone and who are always close to us.”
Pope Leo invited the children to shout, “I love you, Jesus,” and “I love you, Mary.”
The children prayed the “Hail Mary” prayer in several languages, including Italian, Arabic, Urdu, German, and Spanish, offering decades of the rosary for peace in Syria, Lebanon, South Sudan, Cuba, Venezuela, and other countries.
The “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” initiative began in Venezuela in 2005 and has since grown into a worldwide prayer movement involving children, families, parishes, schools and Church groups across the globe.
The campaign draws inspiration from words attributed to St. Pio of Pietrelcina—Padre Pio: “When one million children pray the Rosary, the world will change.”
