Children join Pope Leo in reciting Rosary for peace

October 03, 2026

1,300 people, including 700 children, joined Pope Leo XIV at the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens to recite the Rosary for peace (video).

The event took place on the evening of October 1, the beginning of the month dedicated to the Holy Rosary. The Pope’s recitation of the Rosary with children was part of Aid to the Church in Need’s A Million Children Praying the Rosary initiative, a weeklong initiative that concludes on October 7, the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary.

“The Lord Jesus and his mother Mary, who never leave us alone and who are always close to us,” Pope Leo said before the recitation of the Rosary began. “Yes, we love them, Jesus and Mary, and this evening we will ask them for a special gift: peace for all the children in the world, especially for those who are living war-torn areas in so many countries across the globe.”

“We will do so with the prayer of the Holy Rosary, which is a simple prayer that everyone can recite,” the Pope continued, adding:

And I would like to say one last thing to you: this evening, and in these days, we are not alone in our prayers. All over the world, a million children are praying with us. A million! Just think: fifty million “Hail Marys” rising to Heaven from every corner of the earth and in every language, asking for peace, and coming together as if in a single, vast Rosary, to embrace and bind together all the continents, races and nations of the planet.

 

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Further information:

• Rosary with children (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 10/1/26)
• Recitation of the Rosary with Children (Holy See Press Office, 10/1/26)
• A rosary in the Vatican for ‘peace for all the children in the world' (Vatican News, 10/1/26)
• A Million Children Praying with the Pope is 'a dream come true’ (Vatican News, 10/1/26)
• Leo XIV opens global week of prayer for peace with hundreds of children (Aid to the Church in Need, 10/2/26)