Hundreds of children join Pope Leo XIV in praying the rosary for peace in Vatican Gardens
Pope Leo XIV prayed the rosary for peace with hundreds of children and their families at the Lourdes grotto in the Vatican Gardens on Oct. 1. The prayer was part of Aid to the Church in Need’s “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” initiative, which the pope said united children around the world in prayer. For the first time, the campaign runs for a full week, Oct. 1–7, giving dioceses, schools, parishes and families flexibility to participate; it concludes on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
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Pope Leo XIV opened October’s monthlong focus on the rosary by praying with hundreds of children and their families at the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens, joining a worldwide campaign whose participants prayed for peace and unity. He urged the children to pair prayer with concrete acts of love and charity.
The Oct. 1 gathering was part of Aid to the Church in Need’s “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” initiative. Leo told those assembled that children across the world were praying too, describing their prayers as a shared appeal for peace that brought people of different continents, races and nations together.
The children prayed in several languages, including Italian, Arabic, Urdu, German and Spanish. They offered decades of the rosary for peace in Syria, Lebanon, South Sudan, Cuba, Venezuela and other countries, and reflected on the five Luminous Mysteries from Jesus’ life.
Leo called for peace especially for children living in war zones and said prayer should be accompanied by good deeds and acts of love. His invitation followed an appeal in Lourdes, France, a few days earlier for Catholics to pray throughout October for wars to end and for peace among nations, alongside acts of penance and mercy.
For the first time, the campaign is running over a week, from Oct. 1 to 7, so dioceses, parishes, schools, communities and families can choose when to take part. It concludes on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
The initiative began in Venezuela in 2005 and has since expanded internationally. Participants include children in communities affected by conflict, poverty and political instability: among those cited were parishes and schools in Sudan, a Tsimané Indigenous community in Bolivia’s Amazon, and a parish in Zimbabwe.
The Vatican gathering took place at a grotto modeled on the one in Lourdes, France. At the start of the vigil, Leo brought flowers to its altar with a child; he had visited the original Lourdes grotto days earlier.
Theological significance of communal Marian prayer in fostering peace
Communal Marian prayer fosters peace not by treating Mary as an alternative to Christ or as a guarantee that conflict will immediately end, but by gathering people to ask her intercession and, through her, turning more deeply toward Christ, the source of peace. In praying together, Christians seek both God’s gift of peace and the conversion needed to become peacemakers.
The Rosary has a specifically Christ-centered meaning: its repeated prayers accompany meditation on the mysteries of Jesus’ life. Pope John Paul II teaches that contemplating Christ—the Prince of Peace—can form the heart in his way of peace. Its quiet rhythm can dispose people to receive Christ’s peace, while its focus on Jesus leads them to notice and serve those who suffer. In this sense, the Rosary is not an escape from the world’s conflicts: it should strengthen a responsible commitment to address them with charity.
The communal dimension matters because praying together expresses and cultivates unity. Christians bring their common needs before God, asking Mary to intercede for peace and concord; Pope Leo XIII describes this tradition as seeking her help for the Church’s unity and for peace in the world. Praying together can also train people to regard one another as brothers and sisters, making understanding, forgiveness, and solidarity more possible in everyday relationships.
Mary’s role remains one of intercession and example. She does not replace Christ: believers ask her to pray with and for them, while peace itself is sought from the Lord. Meditation on the Rosary’s mysteries can also teach a peaceful disposition by keeping the faithful close to Jesus and, in the cited teaching, by following Mary’s example.
The practical test of communal Marian prayer is therefore its fruit. Pope Leo XIV connects prayer around Mary with disarming hearts, listening to people who suffer, welcoming others as brothers and sisters, and choosing peace with enemies rather than seeking their defeat. Prayer for peace and work for peace belong together: the faithful pray for God’s help and strive, as they are able, for justice, reconciliation, and charity.