Hundreds of schoolchildren and parish youth from across Rome will gather with Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican Gardens on October 1 to officially inaugurate the annual “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” campaign. Organized by the Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the launch event will take place at 5:00 PM at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. Between 700 and 1,000 local children are expected to pray alongside the Pontiff, uniting in a global prayer effort for world peace and unity.
Marking a major update to the two-decade-long tradition, this year’s initiative will expand beyond a single day into a full week of prayer running from October 1 through October 7, concluding on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. This extended timeframe allows families, schools, and Christian communities worldwide the flexibility to select the most convenient day to participate while remaining spiritually linked to the overarching global intent.
Inspired by the words of St. Padre Pio—“When one million children pray the Rosary, the world will change”—the movement originated in Venezuela in 2005. Guided this year by the Fatima promise, “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph,” Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of ACN International, highlighted the campaign as a vital sign of hope in a world fractured by violence. ACN invites people of all ages to join the effort, noting that even praying a single decade of the Rosary links participants directly to this global petition for peace.