Photo caption: Pope Leo XIV delivers his address after praying the rosary at the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens May 30, 2026. “Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the Lord,” the pope said. “Whoever trusts in God understands this proclamation of peace and becomes an instrument of peace, building it with his own hands.” CNS photo/Lola Gomez
VATICAN CITY OSV News — Pope Leo XIV presided 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.
PHOTO GALLERY: Pope Leo Rosary-Vatican Gardens
The Pope led the prayer from the Lourdes grotto in the Vatican Gardens at 7 p.m. local time on Saturday, with participating shrines joining via livestream. In the United States, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington took part at 1 p.m. Eastern time.
Coordinated by the Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization, the rosary initiative brought together some of the most visited Marian pilgrimage sites in the world, including the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima, Portugal; the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France; and the Sanctuary of Our Lady Queen of Peace in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Pope Leo prayed the joyful mysteries, with each of the five decades dedicated to those suffering the effects of war and violence and entrusted to the intercession of Mary, Queen of Peace.