UK primary schools echo Pope Leo's call to pray for peace

Children praying the rosary at St Aidan's Primary School, Wishaw, Scotland

Source: Aid to the Church in Need

A Catholic charity is marking the climax of its rosary peace campaign with schools as the Pope invites the world to join him tomorrow in praying to the Virgin Mary, calling for an end to conflict.

Pope Leo XIV will preside over the recitation of the Holy Rosary at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens, Rome, tomorrow (Saturday, 30th May), at 6pm GMT.

At a time of increased violence and tension internationally, the Vatican has invited everyone around the world to join him in praying the devotion as the Marian month comes to an end.

Meanwhile, throughout the month of May, thousands of primary school children across the UK have been praying the rosary as part of a campaign led by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), a charity that helps persecuted and other suffering Christians.

Maisy Milk Peace Project, now in its eighth year, encourages Catholic schools across the UK to sign up to the campaign where children can learn about the plight of Christians as well as learn to pray the five decades of the rosary.

The theme this year highlighted the millions of children globally who are forced to live in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps for reasons including the need to seek shelter from conflict.

As part of the campaign, ACN (UK) sent out 30 rosaries to each school as well as a fundraising pack, and teachers then decided how best to implement them - different classes had them on different weeks or children received them as gifts for their First Holy Communion.

This year 118 schools signed up and ACN delivered 3,540 rosaries around the UK.

In response, so far, 180,000 rosary decades have been recited - equal to around 38,000 rosaries prayed - as well as money raised for ACN projects.

This is a huge increase on last year when only 23 schools participated and 19,816 decades of the rosary were prayed.

ACN Maisy Milk Peace Project co-ordinators stressed that it was significant that as school children across the UK have been invoking Our Lady's prayers for an end to suffering, the campaign should climax at the very time the Pope has chosen to unite the world in an evening dedicated to the rosary calling for an end to conflict.

Joseph Kelly, ACN's youth engagement officer, added: "It has been great to see so many young people across the country praying the Rosary for Peace, especially given Pope Leo's encouragement.

"It feels fitting that our young people are praying to make a difference across the world."

LINK

Aid to the Church in Need: https://acnuk.org