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Pope Leo XIV to Visit Five Roman Parishes During Lent

Updated 11:10 AM ET · 9:07 AM ETConfirmed

Faith Desk

In Short: Pope Leo XIV will visit five parishes in Rome during Lent, continuing a tradition of papal engagement with local communities.

Pope Leo XIV will visit five Catholic parishes in Rome during the Lenten season, the Diocese of Rome announced Friday. The visits, scheduled for Sundays, will include the celebration of Mass.

Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the vicar general of Rome, highlighted the significance of these visits, noting that they align with the tradition set by previous popes, such as John Paul II, who visited 317 of 333 parishes during his pontificate.

The first parishes selected for the visits in 2026 are located in each of the five sectors of the diocese: north, south, east, west, and center. The pope will also meet with Rome’s priests for the second time on February 11.

Pope Leo XIV’s visits reflect his commitment to pastoral care and engagement with local communities. The Vicariate of Rome announced the program on Wednesday, October 28, and the first visits are scheduled between November 27 and December 20.

The pope’s visits are part of a series of pastoral initiatives, including the “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” campaign, which began in Venezuela in 2005 and has since grown into a worldwide prayer movement.

On October 1, Pope Leo XIV joined hundreds of children at the Grotto of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens to pray the Rosary for peace, launching a global week of prayer.

Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of ACN International and prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, emphasized that the Immaculate Heart of Mary represents a life completely open to the Holy Spirit, presenting Mary as a model of faith, love, and prayer.

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, and Sierra Leone.

Pope Leo XIV’s recent cancer diagnosis has been cleared by his doctors, and he will soon need to make decisions over who will lead the Curia, according to an analysis by the National Catholic Register.

What this adds

Background

What's confirmed

• Pope Leo XIV will visit five Catholic parishes of Rome in February and March, in continuity with his predecessors, the Diocese of Rome announced Friday.
• Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the vicar general of Rome, said last year there were 8,020 priests and deacons in the diocese, of whom 809 were permanent Rome diocesan priests, and most of the remaining were part of religious communities or doing advanced studies.
• John Paul II managed to visit 317 of 333 parishes throughout his long pontificate.
• The visits, which will take place on Sundays during the penitential season of Lent, will include the celebration of Mass.
• Leo reinstated the central sector in November 2025 after Pope Francis had eliminated it the year prior.
• The first parishes selected for papal visits in 2026 are located in each of the five sectors of the diocese: north, south, east, west, and center.
• The pope will also meet with Rome’s priests for the second time on Feb.
• The pope is not only the head of the universal Catholic Church, he is also the bishop of the Diocese of Rome, though he does not manage the diocese like a typical diocesan bishop.
• Pope Leo’s predecessors also visited parishes in the Diocese of Rome during their papacies.
• 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 on every continent.
• Pope Leo XIV joined hundreds of children at the Grotto of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens Photo: Vatican Media The initiative runs from 1 to 7 October and unites children, families, schools, parishes, and communities around the world in a single prayer. (ZENIT News / Vatican City, 09.30.2026).- Pope Leo XIV joined hundreds of children at the Grotto of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens on Thursday, 1 October, to pray the Rosary for peace, launching a global week of prayer as part of “One Million Children Praying the Rosary”, an international initiative promoted by the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

What's still developing

• In an exclusive interview with EWTN News, Pope Benedict XVI’s former secretary said “normality is slowly returning” to the Vatican with Pope Leo XIV.
• “The Bishop of Rome is the Pope because here in Rome, in this very city, 2,000 years ago, the apostles, Peter and Paul, preached the good news,” he explains, recalling that both apostles were martyred in the city and that their tombs remain in Rome.
• Through parishes, schools, hospitals, and charitable works, Christians are called to “put the Gospel into practice” by welcoming and supporting those in need.
• “Do not be afraid of your smallness”: This was the encouragement offered by Pope Leo XIV to the bishops of the Conference of Latin Bishops in the Arab Regions (CELRA), who were received in audience at the Vatican on September 3, 2026.
• Leo XIV invited them to imagine “fifty million Hail Marys” rising to heaven “from everywhere and in all the languages of the earth”, united like a great Rosary crown encompassing continents, peoples, and nations.
• The Vatican announced Tuesday that Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Michael A.
• He was ordained in 1992 and served several parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Newark, including assignments in West Orange, Paramus, Wyckoff, Maplewood and Westfield.
• 1–7, allowing dioceses, parishes, schools, communities, and families across different continents to participate in the prayer for peace and unity.

Sources

• EWTN Newslink
• EWTN Vaticanlink
• National Catholic Registerlink
• Vatican Newslink
• Aleteialink
• Acnuklink
• Zenitlink
• Ncregisterlink
• Newjerseylink
• Aciafricalink
• Cbcpnewslink
• WarpBeat — background on Pope Leo XIV to Visit Five Roman Parishes This Lent link
• WarpBeat — background on Pope Leo XIV to Visit Five Roman Parishes During Lent link
• EWTN News — video link