Church asks Pinoys around the world to pray for peace

Hoping that there would be peace around the world, Catholic Church is asking Filipinos in different countries to join in praying the rosary for 200 days from October this year to May next year. Outgoing Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar said, “I am humbly seeking the commitment of all parishes, Basic Ecclesial Communities, schools and our overseas Filipinos to participate in this spiritual undertaking." "I see this as a potent tool for catechesis on prayer, on the need for social engagement among Catholics and on the real meaning of peace as taught by the Lord in the gospels," Odchimar said in a message posted on the "A Million Roses for the World" website. "When a million peace-loving Filipinos pray together, we can claim peace for the world from the hands of the good Lord and His mother. The tool may be simple but this simplicity will open for us the doors to lasting peace for the world and lead us to the path for the healing of our nation," he said. The "A Million Roses for the World" project invites one million Filipinos from all over the world to pray one rosary for one country a day from Monday to Saturday. 200 days of prayers The 200 days of prayers will begin on October 10 this year, with former ambassador Howard Dee leading the invocation for Angola. The series of prayers will end on May 30 next year, with petitions for the Philippines. The project is an initiative of the Family Rosary Crusade in the Philippines. The organizers said those who would like to pledge to pray the rosary for one country a day for 200 days may visit the official website of the "A Million Roses for the World." Odchimar said the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education (ECCCE) will be a partner of the Family Rosary Crusade in the project. A counter on the website said 134,659 people have pledged to pray the rosary with less than a month to go before the project begins. “One Point One on Eleven Eleven" Meanwhile ECCCE chairman and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas also encouraged the faithful to join a similar rosary campaign for schools nationwide dubbed “One Point One on Eleven Eleven." In the "One Point One on Eleven Eleven" campaign, all Catholic schools, colleges and universities nationwide pray simultaneously one million one hundred rosaries at 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 2011. “This will be a good occasion to animate our youth to love this beautiful prayer of the Church. This campaign aims to teach our youth that prayer can change the world and people who pray can change the destinies of peoples. Indeed there can be no world peace without prayer," Villegas said. - VVP, GMA News