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TODAY: Join the Pope and start October with the Rosary
Confirmed
In Short: Pope Leo XIV joined hundreds of children in the Vatican Gardens on October 1 to pray the Rosary for peace.
Pope Leo XIV joined hundreds of children in the Vatican Gardens on October 1 to pray the Rosary for peace, marking the start of the “One Million Children Praying the Rosary for Peace in the World” campaign.
The event, organized by Aid to the Church in Need, began in Venezuela in 2005 and has since expanded globally.
Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of the Rosary, stating, “We do this through the prayer of the holy rosary, which is a simple prayer that everyone can pray.”
The Pope’s participation in the event comes in the context of the Church’s reflection on the tenth anniversary of Laudato Si’ and the Season of Creation.
The campaign, inspired by the message of Fatima, will run from October 1 to 7, culminating on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
This year marks the first time the campaign will take place over an entire week, with World Rosary Day joining the initiative.
The Pope invited all the faithful and Christian communities to pray the Rosary throughout October, with the intention of promoting peace among conflicting peoples.
The event also aligns with Pope Francis’s call to pray for the earth, as outlined in Laudato Si’.
Pope Leo XIV presented a bouquet of flowers to Our Lady upon his arrival for the rosary.
What's confirmed
- What began in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2005 as a simple initiative inspired by children praying the Rosary has, with ACN’s support, grown over more than 20 years into a worldwide movement of prayer for peace and unity.
- The Pope is not only joining the children in prayer on October 1; with his appeal at Lourdes in France, he has extended the invitation to pray the Rosary for peace throughout October to the whole Church.
- The Pope’s appeal comes in the immediate context of this year’s ACN initiative.
- ACN had invited the Holy Father to join children in praying the Rosary for peace and unity and had also proposed bringing this appeal for prayer to the wider Church.
- On October 1, Pope Leo XIV will pray the Rosary with hundreds of children gathered at the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens, spiritually united with children, families, schools, parishes and Christian communities around the world.
- The worldwide ACN campaign will take place from October 1 to 7, culminating on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
What's still developing
- Five new mysteries to pray for our wounded, hopeful common home Oct 01, 2026 Related News Final report of Synod's canon law commission published Pennsylvania nuns build stone monastery designed to last 'a thousand years' For nuns in war-torn Cameroon, conflict threatens hard-won climate solutions Vatican secretary of state says world’s fragmentation starts with forgetting what a human person is Caring for creation with body, mind, and heart A Catholic holds a rosary (Photo by Mohd RASFAN / AFP) By John Singarayar SVD In a time of record heat, vanishing species, and deepening inequality, our October Rosary must also pray for the earth.
- Pope Francis writes that “the earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth,” linking environmental damage to a “throwaway culture” that treats both things and people as disposable.
- An ecological Rosary insists that what we contemplate in prayer is not separate from what is happening to forests, rivers, soils, and human communities.
- In 2026, as the Church reflects on the tenth anniversary of Laudato Si’ and marks another Season of Creation under the theme “Living Water”, it is fitting that the Rosary itself be enlisted more explicitly in the work of healing our common home.
- It is the perfect moment to introduce a simple but powerful tool: five ecological mysteries inspired by Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’.
- A purely interior Rosary, focused only on personal piety, can unintentionally collude with this blindness.
- Five mysteries for a new decade of discipleship The five mysteries—Wonder, Wounded Earth, Cry of the Poor, Conversion, and Common Home Restored—follow the inner logic of Laudato Si’ while fitting naturally into the Rosary’s five-decade structure.
- For both of his Octobers as pope, Leo XIV has made a special appeal to make this month a time to begin or renew our devotion to the Rosary, prayed especially for the intention of peace.
- October is traditionally held as the month of the Rosary, given that on October 7, we celebrate the Our Lady of the Rosary.
- It was here that the Immaculate Virgin appeared to Saint Bernadette with the rosary and, as it were, guided her in prayer.
- Tune in at the Vatican web site starting at 6 pm (noon EST) and join the Holy Father in this beloved prayer.
- Then, consider how you can make the Rosary a daily habit this month, or if you already pray the Rosary, how you can go deeper in this form of meditation.