Across the Middle East, children answer Pope Leo’s call to pray the rosary for peace

In a Middle East scarred by war, children in Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria gathered in churches and schoolyards this month to answer Pope Leo XIV’s call to pray the rosary for peace, joining more than a million young people worldwide.

Their prayers were part of “One Million Children Praying the Rosary,” organized by the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), and took place Oct. 1–7. This year’s campaign drew particular inspiration from Our Lady of Fátima’s promise: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

Lebanon

At least 261 children have been killed and 1,056 injured in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since March 2, according to figures published by UNICEF. In March, the agency reported that an average of at least 19,000 children were being displaced each day.

Against this backdrop, in the Maronite Diocese of Antelias, more than 1,300 students gathered around Bishop Antoine Bou Najem to pray. “We are praying today for children living in fear, for those who have no home, and for those enduring war, hunger, and sorrow,” Bou Najem said.

Palestine

In Palestine, the prayer for peace took place against the backdrop of the devastation and displacement caused by the war in Gaza, whose effects continue to weigh heavily on children and families there.

In Jerusalem, Our Lady of Pilar College, also known as the Spanish School, shared photographs of its students gathered in the school courtyard to pray for peace.

Located in Jerusalem’s Old City and run by the Missionary Daughters of Calvary, the school serves underprivileged students belonging to the poorest families in and around East Jerusalem.

Syria

In Syria, children and families gathered at Holy Spirit Cathedral in Homs, a city scarred by years of war, to join the same international initiative.

“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 hope,” the Syriac Catholic Archdiocese of Homs, Hama, and Nabk wrote in its post. “Queen of Peace, pray for us … and bring the world together in love and unity.”

This story was first published by ACI MENA, the Arabic-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been translated for and adapted by EWTN News English.