Over a Million Children, Including in the Middle East, Prayed the Rosary for Peace

The campaign ran Oct. 1–7, and ACN’s page counted 1,049,272 children praying worldwide as families face war and displacement.

Faith belongs at the heart of family life, and children in Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria showed it this month by joining a global rosary campaign for peace, Catholic News Agency reported Oct. 13. CNA's post links to an EWTN News report on the campaign¹. The report says children gathered in churches and schoolyards to answer Pope Leo XIV's call to pray the rosary for peace, joining more than a million young people worldwide².

The post points to One Million Children Praying the Rosary, a campaign organized by the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that ran Oct. 1–7². ACN's campaign page shows a counter of 1,049,272 children praying in 2026³.

In Lebanon's Maronite Diocese of Antelias, more than 1,300 students gathered around Bishop Antoine Bou Najem to pray. UNICEF figures published in the EWTN report record at least 261 children killed and 1,056 injured in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since March 2. UNICEF also reported in March that an average of at least 19,000 children were being displaced each day².

In Jerusalem, Our Lady of Pilar College shared photographs of its students praying for peace in the school courtyard. The Old City school, run by the Missionary Daughters of Calvary, serves underprivileged students from the poorest families in and around East Jerusalem. In Syria, children and families gathered at Holy Spirit Cathedral in Homs, a city scarred by years of war. The Syriac Catholic Archdiocese of Homs, Hama, and Nabk said, "From Homs, a city that has known the pain of war and longs for peace, the children's prayers rose with a simple yet profound hope²."

The Syriac Catholic Archdiocese of Homs, Hama, and Nabk published the children's prayer, which asks the Queen of Peace to pray for them and to gather the world in love and unity⁴. ACN reports that the week opened Oct. 1 with hundreds of children praying the rosary with Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican gardens⁵. ACN also reports that scouts in Lebanon recorded videos urging children in other countries to pray for peace.

1,056

children injured in those attacks

261

children killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon, at least

1,049,272

children ACN counted praying in 2026

Parents hold the central place in forming their children's faith. ACN's campaign encourages parents to pray with their children at home, creating a special moment of faith and unity³. In discussing children in Ukraine⁵, campaign coordinator Nathalie D’Aqui said children were encouraged to pray together daily in their families because peace must first be built within their homes.

Over a Million Children, Including in the Middle East, Prayed the Rosary for Peace

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