What Will Happen When Pope Leo Prays the Rosary With Hundreds of Children?

Pope Leo XIV will join hundreds of children in praying the Rosary for peace at the Vatican Gardens on October 1, launching this year’s “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” initiative. The gathering will take place at the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens, where between 700 and 1,000 children from schools and parishes across Rome are expected to participate. At 5 p.m., they will pray the Rosary together with the Pope in spiritual communion with children, families and Christian communities around the world. The annual initiative is promoted by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which has organised the campaign for more than two decades. This year, the format has been expanded into an entire week of prayer from October 1 to 7. For the first time, participating communities can choose any day during the week to join the worldwide Rosary campaign. The initiative will conclude on October 7, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. ACN is inviting children, families, schools, parishes and Christian communities to unite in prayer for peace and unity. The campaign comes as many communities around the world continue to experience conflict, persecution, poverty and instability. The Vatican gathering will form one part of a worldwide chain of prayer involving communities across different countries and cultures. Children in several countries affected by conflict and hardship are also preparing to participate. Parishes and schools in Sudan are expected to join, while children from the Tsimané indigenous community in the Bolivian Amazon have already begun praying the Rosary in Tsimané and Spanish. In Zimbabwe, children at St. Christopher’s Parish in the Archdiocese of Bulawayo are scheduled to pray on October 4. In Paraguay, Radio Pa’i Puku will broadcast children praying the Rosary from San Eugenio de Mazenod parish. This year’s campaign is inspired by the message traditionally associated with the apparitions at Fatima, Portugal, and focuses on Mary’s Immaculate Heart. Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of ACN International and Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, has highlighted Mary as a model of faith, prayer and love and pointed to her openness to the Holy Spirit. The “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” initiative began in Venezuela in 2005 and has since developed into an international prayer movement involving children, families, schools, parishes and Church groups. The campaign is also associated with the words attributed to Padre Pio: “When one million children pray the Rosary, the world will change.” Participation is not restricted to children. Parents, teachers, priests, religious, catechists and families are also encouraged to take part. Those who cannot pray an entire Rosary can participate by praying a single decade, allowing them to join the wider worldwide prayer for peace. The October initiative is intended to unite children and adults across borders in a common act of prayer, with the Rosary serving as a spiritual expression of hope for peace and unity.