Pope Leo XIV to pray the Rosary for peace with 1,000 children at the Vatican

Pope Leo XIV will join between 700 and 1,000 children from schools and parishes in Rome on October 1 to pray the Rosary for peace at the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens. The gathering is set for 5 p.m. and will open the week of prayer for the initiative One Million Children Praying the Rosary, run for more than two decades by the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

The children in Rome will be joined spiritually by children, families and Christian communities around the world. For the first time, the campaign will run for a full week, from October 1 to 7. Dioceses, parishes and schools on different continents can choose the day that best fits their pastoral circumstances, keeping the same intention of prayer for peace and unity. The week ends on October 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Similar events are being organized in many countries, from indigenous communities in the Bolivian Amazon to parishes in Sudan, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Sierra Leone, among other places affected by war and poverty. In Sudan, Father Franck Mandozi has confirmed that children from several parishes and schools will take part. In the T'siman indigenous community in the Amazon, Sister Patricia Alejandra Botello López said the children already pray the Rosary in their native language and in Spanish. In Zimbabwe, St. Christopher parish in the Archdiocese of Bulawayo will gather children on October 4, and its pastor, Father Charles Mafurutu, plans to visit remote communities in the following weeks. In Paraguay, Radio Pa'i Puku will carry a live broadcast of the Rosary prayed by children from San Eugenio de Mazenod parish.

The 2026 campaign draws on the message of Fatima: "In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph." Cardinal Kurt Koch, international president of ACN and prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, said the Immaculate Heart of Mary stands for a life completely open to the Holy Spirit. He described the Virgin Mary as a model of faith, love and prayer.

One Million Children Praying the Rosary began in Venezuela in 2005 and has grown into a prayer movement involving children, families, parishes and church groups on every continent. It draws on words attributed to St. Pio of Pietrelcina: "When a million children pray the Rosary, the world will change."

ACN is inviting parents, teachers and priests to join the prayer, noting that praying the full Rosary is not required and that even a single decade, prayed with faith, can form part of the international chain of prayer. World Rosary Day is joining the campaign for the first time this year.