Joining Pope Leo XIV in a worldwide rosary for peace, several hundred people gathered at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington May 30 to seek the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary to bring peace to the hearts of people and peace to nations at war.
Mary
Pope Leo XIV will preside over a worldwide rosary for peace May 30, uniting Marian shrines across continents in simultaneous prayer to close the Catholic Church’s month of devotion to the Virgin Mary.
Marking the anniversary of the attempted assassination of St. John Paul II and the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, Pope Leo XIV said Mary is the “perfect model” of what the Church is called to be and urged Catholics to imitate her “humility, active faith, and obedience.”
Celebrating the feast of the Immaculate Conception as the Jubilee Year was ending, Pope Leo XIV prayed that “Jubilee hope” would “blossom in Rome and in every corner of the earth,” bringing with it reconciliation, nonviolence, and peace.
While praising devotion to Mary, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith firmly rejected moves to formally proclaim Mary as “co-redemptrix” or “co-mediatrix.”
While the famed image of Our Lady of Czestochowa is known worldwide, its story is full of dramatic events worth acknowledging.
For the first time since its reopening in December 2024, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris marked the feast of the Assumption with a solemn outdoor procession.
Marking the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and the start of the new year, Pope Francis renewed his appeal for a “firm commitment” to respect all human life worldwide.
As fighting in the Middle East intensified and spread, Pope Francis turned to Mary, begging her to “intercede for our world in danger.”