Pope asks everyone to pray the rosary for peace throughout October

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- 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 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.

Britain, Canada and Australia formally recognized Palestinian statehood Sept. 21, 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 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.

The pope also invited Vatican officials and employees to pray the rosary together every October evening at 7 p.m. in St. Peter's Basilica.

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.