Hundreds of children will gather with Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican Gardens on Oct. 1, joining young Catholics around the world in a powerful international prayer effort for peace and unity.
According to Vatican News, between 700 and 1,000 children from Roman Catholic schools and parishes are expected to join the Holy Father at the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens at 5 p.m. The gathering will launch this year’s “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” campaign organized by the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
The children will pray the Rosary with Pope Leo in spiritual communion with families, schools, parishes and Christian communities participating around the world, according to an ACN press release cited by Vatican News.
The international initiative has been held for more than two decades, but 2026 will mark a significant change. Rather than taking place on a single day, the campaign will extend from Oct. 1 through Oct. 7, giving participating communities the opportunity to choose a day during the week to gather in prayer.
The worldwide observance will culminate Oct. 7, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Participation will extend far beyond Rome. According to Vatican News, children and communities in countries including Sudan, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Bolivia and Paraguay are among those preparing to take part.
Children from the Tsimané community in the Bolivian Amazon have already begun praying the Rosary in both Tsimané and Spanish. In Zimbabwe, children at St. Christopher’s Parish in the Archdiocese of Bulawayo are scheduled to gather October 4. In Paraguay, Radio Pa’i Puku plans to broadcast children praying the Rosary at San Eugenio de Mazenod parish.
The campaign carries particular significance at a time when communities around the world continue to experience war, persecution, poverty and instability. Children separated by geography, language and culture will be united through the same traditional Catholic prayer and a shared intention for peace.
This year’s campaign draws inspiration from the message associated with the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of ACN International and Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, also encouraged participation, presenting the Immaculate Heart of Mary as an example of a life completely open to the Holy Spirit and of faith, prayer and love, according to Vatican News.
The “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” campaign began in Venezuela in 2005 before developing into an international prayer initiative involving children, families, schools, parishes and Church communities across the continents.
Its inspiration also comes from a saying attributed to St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina: “When one million children pray the Rosary, the world will change.”
Although children remain at the heart of the campaign, ACN is encouraging parents, teachers, priests, religious, catechists and families to participate as well. Those unable to pray an entire Rosary are encouraged to pray even a single decade as part of the worldwide prayer effort.
On October 1, the sight of hundreds of children gathered around Pope Leo in the Vatican Gardens will begin a week in which Catholics across nations and cultures will turn together to the Blessed Virgin Mary, entrusting a wounded world to prayer and asking God for the gift of peace.
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