On 15 October, women religious around the world are invited to pray the Rosary together for peace, responding to the Pope’s appeal to resist becoming accustomed to war and to forge concrete paths towards reconciliation.

Rome, 12 October 2026 – “We cannot allow war to become a normal reality for us,” These words from Sr. Roxanne Schares, SSND, Executive Secretary of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), give voice to a concern shared throughout the world today.

For this reason, on Thursday, 15 October, at 2:30 p.m., women religious and communities from different continents will unite in an online Rosary for peace, livestreamed on the UISG YouTube channel. Through this prayer, they will respond to Pope Leo XIV’s appeal to pray that wars may cease and that paths of reconciliation may open among peoples.

The initiative stems from the Pope’s invitation on 27 September, during his visit to Lourdes, to spend the month of October praying “for wars to cease and for paths of peace to open among peoples in conflict.” This appeal extends beyond prayer. Pope Leo XIV also invited the faithful to accompany their prayer with concrete acts of penance and mercy, and with a commitment to promoting dialogue and reconciliation.

In response, the UISG wishes to bring together women’s religious communities across the continents in a shared prayer for people affected by conflict, victims of violence, and all those who work each day to build peace.

“On 15 October, we wish to take up Pope Leo XIV’s appeal and unite, as consecrated women, in praying the Rosary. I invite every person, every community, wherever we may be, to pause and pray together. To entrust our world’s desire for peace to Mary also means to ask that our hearts be transformed and made capable of walking, each day, concrete paths of reconciliation and peace.” declares Sr Roxanne Schares.

The choice of 15 October, the liturgical memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus (Teresa of Ávila), recalls the witness of a woman who placed prayer at the center of her experience of God and of her service to the Church.

For consecrated life, praying for peace is not only an invocation, but a way of allowing ourselves to be challenged by the world’s suffering: to bring the wounds of peoples before God and, at the same time, to renew our willingness to build peace through daily gestures of listening, encounter, and reconciliation, especially where violence and conflict make hope more fragile.

The UISG warmly invites Superiors General, women religious, communities, and all the faithful to join in praying the Rosary and to share this initiative with their congregations, communities, families, and wider networks.

Information for participation

Online Rosary for Peace
 

• Date: 15 October 2026
• Time: 2:30 p.m. (Rome time)
• Live broadcast: youtube.com/@UISGRome