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Pope Leo XIV Leads Children in Rosary for Peace
Confirmed
In Short: Pope Leo XIV will lead more than 700 children in praying the rosary for peace at the Vatican, part of a global initiative.
Pope Leo XIV will lead more than 700 children in praying the rosary for peace at the Vatican on October 8, as part of the 'One Million Children Praying the Rosary' initiative, which began in Venezuela in 2005. The event marks the start of a global week of prayer, with participants from around the world joining in solidarity.
The pontifical foundation provides prayer materials in several languages and encourages participants to register, allowing the network of children praying in different countries to be displayed on a map. This year, World Rosary Day is also joining the campaign for the first time.
The prayers of Pope Leo XIV and the children of Rome will be joined by gatherings in locations around the world, including the Bolivian Amazon, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone, where communities are affected by war, poverty, or instability.
From the Tsimané Indigenous community in the Bolivian Amazon, Sister Patricia Alejandra Botello López said they will pray in both their local language and Spanish. In Sudan, Father Franck Mandozi of the Kosti Pastoral Region confirmed that children from several parishes and schools will take part.
The initiative is organized in collaboration with the Shrine of Fátima, the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, and the World Apostolate of Fátima. It aims to inspire children, families, parishes, schools, and Church groups on every continent, as inspired by the words of St. Pope John Paul II.
In addition to the rosary event, Pope Leo XIV also called for international solidarity with Somalia on Sunday, citing ongoing violence and extreme weather that are compounding an already severe humanitarian crisis. He emphasized the need to provide nutrition supplies to the worst-affected children.
The Pope has also been active in addressing ethical concerns related to artificial intelligence. He met with Sewell Setzer III’s mother, who transformed her grief into a mission to protect other children and families from risks posed by AI, during a conference on child dignity and AI ethics in November 2025.
Pope Leo XIV’s efforts to engage with global issues and ethical concerns continue to draw attention, with some viewing his approach as an 'Americanization' of the Vatican, allowing for more American-style fundraising and donor access.
Background
Pope Leo XIV will lead more than 700 children in praying the rosary for peace at the Vatican, part of a global initiative.
What's confirmed
- They will also be spiritually united with children, families, schools, and Christian communities around the world in an event marking the beginning of the global week during which the prayer initiative is observed.
- The “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” initiative began in Venezuela in 2005.
- The pontifical foundation also provides prayer materials in several languages and asks participants to register so that the network of children joining the prayer in different countries can be displayed on a map.
- This year, World Rosary Day is also joining the campaign for the first time.
- The prayers of Pope Leo XIV and the children of Rome will be joined by prayer gatherings planned in locations around the world, “from the Bolivian Amazon to parishes in Sudan, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and many other places affected by war, poverty, or instability,” ACN said.
- From the Tsimané Indigenous community in the Bolivian Amazon, Sister Patricia Alejandra Botello López said they will pray in both their local language and Spanish.
- Coming from schools and parishes throughout Rome, the children will join the pontiff in the “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” campaign.
- Between 700 and 1,000 children will pray a rosary for peace with Pope Leo XIV on Oct.
- Today it has become a worldwide prayer movement involving children, families, parishes, schools, and Church groups on every continent, inspired by the words of St.
- The initiative is organized in collaboration with the Shrine of Fátima, the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, and the World Apostolate of Fátima.
- In war-torn Sudan, Father Franck Mandozi of the Kosti Pastoral Region confirmed that children from several parishes and schools will take part.
- The Diocese of Nashville’s Catholic Schools Office is raising awareness among Tennessee Catholic families about how to protect their children from risks posed by AI.
What's still developing
- As has now been widely reported, Pope Leo XIV attended a dinner with wealthy donors, primarily from the United States and Italy, on July 29, which included a private concert by Andrea Bocelli.
- The dinner was co-organized by the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Center for Higher Education and the Andrea Bocelli Foundation, and followed a public event called the “ Canticle for Peace ” that combined moments of prayer with a performance by Bocelli and an international children’s choir.
- Alex Capecelatro is an American A.I. founder who attended the event with his husband and wrote about meeting the pope for Outreach, an L.G.B.T.
- One of the show’s hosts, veteran Vatican journalist Inés San Martín, said in a recent episode, “It’s naïve, very naïve, to think that Francis—perhaps they weren’t dinners—but that Francis didn’t do this,” adding that she knew someone who had “gone to the Vatican to give the Holy Father a check for $250,000 and ended up in a private audience alone with Francis” in the Vatican’s Sala Clementina.
- Mr. Capacelatro said that invitees to the “Canticle for Peace” concert knew that they would have a chance to shake hands with the pope afterward, and photos of these greetings were published by Vatican Media, as is standard for public papal events.
- Organizers have kept details of the dinner and private concert that followed tightly under wraps; neither the Vatican communications department nor the Andrea Bocelli Foundation returned requests for comment for this story.
- Father Dorantes, who has a background in media, was also reportedly the organizer of NBC’s and Telemundo’s exclusive interviews with Pope Leo, given at Borgo Laudato Si’ the same day as the concert for peace.
- Others believe more American-style fundraising could help solve the Holy See’s financial problems, as some cardinals expressed hope for around the time of Pope Leo XIV’s election.
- “We’re only providing these nutrition supplies to the children that are really the worst hit,” he said.
- Pope Leo XIV prays the Angelus on Sunday, 20 Sept.
- The Pontiff called for an ethical framework for artificial intelligence and warned that technology must serve life, peace and the common good.