Pope Leo XIV Prays Rosary for Peace With More Than 700 Children at the Vatican as Global Campaign Opens
VATICAN CITY, Oct. 1 — Pope Leo XIV prayed a rosary for peace with between 700 and 1,000 children from schools and parishes across Rome at the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens on Oct. 1, according to the National Catholic Register via Catholic News Agency. The gathering launched the 'One Million Children Praying the Rosary' campaign organized by the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
Now in its 20th year, the initiative expands for the first time from a single day into a full week, Oct. 1 through Oct. 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, so that dioceses, parishes, religious communities, schools and families anywhere in the world can take part on the day that suits them. Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of ACN International, said the campaign is a simple yet universal sign of trust and hope at a time when millions face war, violence, persecution and poverty. Participating communities range from an indigenous Tsimané community in Bolivia's Amazon to parishes in Sudan and a youth prayer gathering in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
The same day, the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network released Leo's October prayer intention: for the mental health ministry. In the video, the pope said that behind old labels for mental suffering lies a deep, silent pain, and asked that the Church be an 'open house' that accompanies and never excludes, listening without judging.
Source: National Catholic Register/CNA, Oct. 1; EWTN Vatican on the October prayer intention. Faith news, carried in the Faith channel only.
Photo: Day 2 Rome. St. Peter's Square — rottnapples / CC BY 2.0 (via Openverse)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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