Pope Francis calls for prayer and fasting on October 7 to bring peace to the world

VATICAN CITY  (LifeSiteNews) — Catholics across the world have been asked to perform prayer and penance on October 7 by Pope Francis, as he added to the request of Jerusalem’s cardinal that the Church pray for peace in the region.

Making an unscheduled announcement at the end of his homily for the Mass opening the Synod on Synodality’s second session today, Pope Francis issued a Church-wide call.

READ: PHOTOS: Pope Francis opens Synod’s final session with Vatican Mass

Referencing how the “the winds of war and the flames of violence continue to devastate entire peoples and nations,” Francis said there was “need” for the message of the Gospel.

As such he said he would be visiting the ancient icon of Mary in St. Mary Major’s on October 6 – where he regularly visits before and after each voyage – and recite the rosary there.

“In order to invoke the intercession of Mary Most Holy for the gift of peace, I will recite the holy rosary and make a heartfelt plea to the Virgin in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major this coming Sunday. If possible, I ask all members of the synod to join me for this occasion.”

For the following day of October 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Francis called for an international day of prayer and penance:

The following day, 7 October, I ask everyone to participate in a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the world. Let us walk together. Let us listen to the Lord and allow him to guide us by the “breath” of the Spirit.

In doing so, Francis made his own a recent plea issued by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, although he did not specifically reference Pizzaballa or the current bloody conflict in the Holy Land.

READ: Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem calls for prayer and fasting on October 7 to end the war

Pizzaballa said that the Holy Land and surrounding region has, since last October 7, “been plunged into a vortex of violence and hatred never seen or experienced before.”

Violence, which has caused and is causing thousands of innocent victims, has also found its way into political and social language and actions. It has struck a profound blow to the common feeling of belonging to the Holy Land, to the consciousness of being part of a plan of Providence that wanted us here to build together His Kingdom of peace and justice, and not to make it instead a reservoir of hatred and contempt, of mutual rejection and annihilation.

Referencing the “intensity and impact of the tragedies” in the past year, the cardinal said such scenes had “deeply lacerated our conscience and our sense of humanity.”

Repeating his regular calls for peace and requests for prayers to effect said peace, Pizzaballa invited Catholics to join him on October 7 in prayer and penance:

Therefore, I invite you to a day of prayer, fasting and penance on October 7 next, a date that has become symbolic of the drama we are experiencing. The month of October is also the Marian month and on October 7 we celebrate the memory of Mary Queen of the Rosary.

May each of us, with the rosary or in whatever form he or she sees fit, personally but better again in community, find a moment to pause and pray, and bring to the “merciful Father and God of all consolation” (2 Cor. 1:3), our desire for peace and reconciliation. Attached you will find a prayer proposal, that may be used freely.

The Italian cardinal, who has been based in the Holy Land for over 30 years, also published a proposed “prayer for peace,” found on the Patriarchate website.

October is particularly devoted to the holy Rosary, especially marked by the prominent feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7.