VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV asked Catholics to pray the rosary each day in October for peace.
The pope made his request at the end of his weekly general audience Sept. 24 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 Sept. 23 before heading back to the Vatican after a day’s rest. The parish is offering refuge and assistance to hundreds of Gaza residents.
At the end of his audience Sept. 24, Pope Leo noted that October was approaching and that with the Oct. 7 feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Catholic 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.
And he invited everyone to St. Peter’s Square Oct. 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 Oct. 11, 1962.
