Follow Jesus in the company of Mary, pope tells pilgrims June 2, 2025By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As spring turned into summer, some 2,000 people closed the month of May with a rosary walk through the Vatican Gardens. The temperature was still close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit at 8 p.m. May 31 when the pilgrims set off from behind St. Peter’s Basilica, led by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of the basilica. At the top of the Vatican hill, at the ivy-covered replica of the grotto at Lourdes, France, they were joined by Pope Leo XIV. The rosary walk, he said, brings together the most important aspects of the Jubilee Year: “praise, a journey, hope and, especially, faith pondered and demonstrated together.” As they walked, the pilgrims recited the five joyful mysteries of the rosary — the Annunciation, the Visitation, the birth of Jesus, the Presentation and the finding of Jesus in the Temple — and listened to the Scripture passages that recount the events in the life of Mary and Jesus. “Your steps have been marked by the Word of God, whose rhythm has marked your progress, your stops and starts, just as it did for the people of Israel in the desert on their way to the promised land,” the pope told the pilgrims. The Christian life should be like that, too, Pope Leo said. “Let us look, then, at our existence as a journey following Jesus, to be traveled, as we did tonight, together with Mary,” he said. “And let us ask the Lord to teach us to praise him every day with our life and our tongue, with our heart and our lips, with our voice and our conduct, avoiding dissonance: our speech in harmony with our lives, and our lips with our conscience.” Read More Vatican News Pope Leo meets Lebanese president; Vatican concerned over border deal implementation ‘Prayer is our number one weapon’ against Russian aggression, says papal nuncio to Ukraine Conversion of heart needed to end wars, heal Earth, pope says Sacred music must be ‘dignified,’ reflecting the mystery being celebrated, pope says San Antonio priest laicized, excommunicated after calling Popes Francis and Leo ‘usurpers’ Pope offers prayers for Zimbabwe ferry disaster as death toll passes 90 Copyright © 2025 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Print
