The World Mission Rosary returns in 2026, and Catholic Mission is inviting everyone to join the daily online Rosary prayer sessions during the month of May.
Created in 1951 in the United States by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the World Mission Rosary is a unique tradition that serves as a powerful reminder that we all belong to a global Church, forming the foundations of community and hope through global mission.
This year, as we move towards the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday on 18 October, each of us is reminded of our unity in faith, compassion and missionary action.
To honour this, Catholic Mission will be hosting a series of daily online Rosary prayers during May, asking for the Blessed Virgin Mary’s intercession so that people around the world may experience the love of God and have life.
“As we celebrate 100 years of World Mission Sunday, the May Rosary prayer program is even more meaningful,” program lead, Fiona Ng said.
“This is how the Society of the Propagation of the Faith – one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies – began through its foundress, Blessed Pauline Jaricot.
“She started the Prayer Circle to pray and donate a penny for missionary priests.”
Representing each continent with its five colour-coded decades, Catholic Mission said the World Mission Rosary is “a reminder of the work we all do in our day-to-day lives in our own mission journeys.”
“As we pray together, we hope this initiative will encourage us all to pause and reflect on the mission efforts the Church and each one of us have made to uplift and better our own communities and people most in need around the world.”
“My hope is that participants will feel a sense of support in praying the World Mission Rosary that aims to ‘embrace the world in prayer’, especially those living in poverty,” Fiona said.
The daily sessions will invite prayer leaders to guide the Rosary for a single day or an entire week throughout May.
The sessions will be available to parishes, schools, supporters and donor networks, with the hope of building deeper connections and a reflection on what mission means.
“It is heartwarming to know that we have participants who return year after year to pray together with us, which is truly a beautiful thing,” Fiona added.
Sessions will run Monday to Friday, from 2.00-3.00pm, until 31 May.
Anyone interested in participating can connect directly on Teams via: https://tinyurl.com/RosaryPrayer26