3 MONTHS TO WORLD ROSARY DAY 2025

ROSARY FOR WORLD PEACE

Dear Friends,

Three months away from the 2025 World Rosary Day, on 7th October 2025, I would like to give you an overview of the events and the preparations that unfolded during the first semester of this year, and a vision of the path ahead.

The various Jubilees that took place, and especially that of the Confraternities (16-18 May) (www.confraternitas.org), which coincided with the election of Pope Leo XIV and his first official Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square (May 18th), have been very intense and have influenced the timing of our agenda.

But the delay did also generate some positive consequences.

For example, while preparation of the documentary about the first World Rosary Day was inevitably delayed ̶ since its release would have been drowned in the deluge of Church news ̶ the concept of the project did evolve. So, what was initially conceived as a chronicle, became a docu-movie on the Rosary itself: the practice, power and impact of this prayer in the various instances of our lives.

Thus it necessitated gathering a variety of testimonies of men of the Church and men and women of Society, some quite famous and some ordinary; investigations and interviews were conducted in Italy and in England. With footage of the many prayer celebrations that took place during the 2024 edition interspersed throughout.

The film, now complete, will be reviewed by some online platforms, to make sure it gets properly promoted and made accessible internationally; prior to the next event in October.

During these past months, we also had the opportunity to reflect on the fundamental purpose of our worldwide Rosary, and the main intention for the 2025 edition, by evaluating the events that unfolded in the meantime.

On October 6th 2024, the day prior to our global Rosary, from St. Mary Major in Rome, Pope Francis issued a passionate plea to pray the Rosary for the world’s peace: «Mother, we beg you to intercede for God’s mercy, you who are the Queen of Peace! Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary, loosen the knots of selfishness and dispel the dark clouds of evil. O mother, Salus Populi Romani, pray for us!».

The next day, the World Rosary Day was in fact celebrated at St. Mary Major in Rome, with the Rosary led by now Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, in front of the Salus Populi Romani icon. [link]

Then, on 10th May 2025, Pope Leo made his very first visit outside the Vatican to St. Mary Major, where he prayed in front of the statue of the Regina Pacis (“Queen of Peace”); and on 18th June he quoted Pious XII appeal for peace (24 August 1939) just days before WWII began: «Nothing is lost with peace, all can be lost with war.»

The sequence of these events, as well as the constantly ongoing conflicts, clearly indicate that the World Rosary Day is to become a global prayer for the world’s peace.
And, as the other intention in 2024 was for the spiritual fruits of the incoming Jubilee, the 2025 WORLD ROSARY DAY can also be a prayer of giving thanks for the nearly completed and very fruitful Holy Year.

Several new associations, churches and groups have meanwhile joined the WORLD ROSARY DAY during this spring, and we now encourage more to register [link].

We will be providing more news and information as we approach the 7th of October.

Yours in Christ,

Umberto Angeloni