Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics worldwide to pray the Rosary for peace in war-torn lands in October, the month the Church dedicates to the Holy Rosary. Source: OSV News.
The Pope made his request at the end of his weekly general audience yesterday and the day after he said he had spoken again with the pastor of Holy Family Church in Gaza City, the only Latin-rite Catholic parish in Gaza.
“Thanks be to God everyone in the parish is fine,” but the Israeli strikes “are a little closer,” the Pope told reporters in Castel Gandolfo on Tuesday before heading back to the Vatican after a day’s rest. The parish is offering refuge and assistance to hundreds of Gaza residents.
Australia, Britain and Canada formally recognised Palestinian statehood on Sunday, joining the Holy See and more than 150 countries that already had done so.
Asked if that could help the situation, Pope Leo told reporters it “could help, but at this moment there really is no willingness to listen on the other side, so dialogue is currently broken”.
Regarding Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine, Pope Leo said that “someone is seeking an escalation, and it is continually becoming more dangerous”.
What is needed, he said, is to “halt military advances” and come to the negotiating table.
At the end of his audience yesterday, Pope Leo noted that October was approaching and that with the October 7 feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Church traditionally dedicates the whole month to praying the Rosary.
“I invite everyone to pray the Rosary every day during the coming month — for peace — personally, with your families and in your communities,” he said.
The Pope also invited Vatican officials and employees to pray the Rosary together every October evening at 7pm in St. Peter’s Basilica.
And he invited everyone to St Peter’s Square on October 11 to pray the Rosary together “during the vigil of the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality, also remembering the anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council”, which began on October 11, 1962.
FULL STORY
Pope asks everyone to pray the Rosary for peace throughout October (OSV News)
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Pope Leo urges Catholics to pray daily Rosary for Peace in October (By Devin Watkins, Vatican Media)
