Rosary for the Bishop

Thursday, July 1, marks six months since the inauguration of the Rosary for the Bishop campaign, an online website that encourages the faithful to pray for bishops across the U.S. and around the world.

The prayer campaign began in 2005 in Madison, Wisconsin, where an online effort was made to collect prayers for Bishop Robert Morlino of the Diocese of Madison. On January 1, 2010, the project was expanded to include all U.S. bishops, and it has since grown to incorporate those from other countries as well.

"At the beginning of 2010, we launched Rosary for the Bishop for all U.S. bishops," said Tom Reitz, one of the website's administrators. Since then, the campaign has grown in response to visitor feedback.

"We kept getting emails from people saying 'can you please add the bishops of my country?' So we did,” Reitz said. “Now the service is available for bishops in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Gibraltar, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada."

Since its inception, membership has risen to more than 800 participants from 45 U.S .states and 10 other countries. So far, the website has recorded 28,000 Rosaries prayed for more 250 Catholic bishops.

On the campaign website, www.RosaryForTheBishop.org, visitors can commit to a weekly or monthly Rosary for any bishop. The website features anonymous statistics on how many Rosaries have been prayed, as well as a Google map marking the locations of participating dioceses. Participants also have the option to receive reminder emails.

The rest at CNA