Success Story: Rosary Booklets for Children in Uruguay

In Uruguay, the Catholic Church has a much more limited influence on society than in other countries of Latin America. The second smallest country in Latin America, barely half the inhabitants profess themselves to be Catholics. Religion has long been banished to the private sphere, and there are officially no Christian holidays in Uruguay. Christmas is called the “Day of the Family” on official calendars, and Holy week and Easter are called “Tourism Week.” Similarly, many of the laws of the country are in outright contradiction to Catholic teaching. 

Nonetheless, Catholic schools make a vital contribution to the work of evangelization. The Church-sponsored “Sophia Foundation” in the capital Montevideo has made it its mission to support the Catholic schools in their evangelizing mission and to further improve the teaching of religion. In this way, children of all ages can have the opportunity, with the help of good catechetical material, to grow and mature in faith and in Christian character, so that they in turn can make their own precious contribution within their families, in society and within the Church.

Currently the program involves some 3,700 school pupils and close to 50 catechists. These children are also participating in the now famous Rosary campaign, “A million children praying the Rosary,” when, on October 18, each year, children from all over the world will be praying the Rosary together for peace. This is an initiative that began in 2005 in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, when a group of children were praying the Rosary in front of a wayside shrine and some of the women who were present experienced a deep sense of the presence of the Virgin Mary. 

Saint Padre Pio once foretold that, “When a million children pray the Rosary together, then the world will change.” The aim is that the power of the united prayer of these children will one day, by God‘s grace, bring about peace in the world and produce a wealth of spiritual fruits. A request was made to ACN to help the campaign by publishing 2,000 copies of the little booklet Children praying the Rosary. 

Thanks to the generosity of our benefactors, we were able to give $884, and the books have now arrived in Montevideo, to the delight of the children. 

Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed!

Aid to the Church in Need commits to invest your funds where they will have the greatest impact for the Church that we serve. Funds donated to Aid to the Church in Need’s projects will be used towards the greatest need in our programs to help keep the Faith alive.

Code: 238-00-89