Pope Leo XIV takes up ACN’s worldwide call to pray the Rosary for peace
Holy Father extends to the whole Church an appeal that ACN has promoted worldwide for more than 20 years.
Königstein, 27 September 2026 – Pope Leo XIV has called on all the faithful and Christian communities around the world to pray the Rosary throughout the month of October for an end to war and for peace, taking up a prayer intention that Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has been promoting worldwide for more than two decades through its campaign “One Million Children Praying the Rosary.”
During the Angelus in Lourdes on Sunday, 27 September, the Holy Father invited Christians “to pray the holy rosary throughout the coming month of October”, asking in particular “that wars may cease and that peace may be established”. He also encouraged concrete acts of mercy and a commitment to dialogue and reconciliation.
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 1 October, 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.
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.
This year, that call is taking on a particularly significant dimension. The Pope is not only joining the children in prayer on 1 October; with his appeal today, he has extended the invitation to pray the Rosary for peace throughout October to the whole Church.
The worldwide ACN campaign will take place from 1 to 7 October, culminating on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Schools, parishes, families, dioceses and prayer groups across the world are invited to take part.
ACN especially encourages groups that are already planning to pray to register their participation on the campaign website. Registration helps to make visible the extraordinary worldwide chain of prayer and to show how children and communities from different countries and continents are united in the same intention for peace.
Join the worldwide prayer and register your participation here.
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