Roses gathered by Catholics representing a rosary prayed for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. / Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone Twitter / Benedict Institute

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 12, 2021 / 11:50 am (CNA).

More than 10,000 people have committed to pray the rosary and to fast on Fridays for the ideological conversion of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on the subject of abortion, the Benedict XVI Institute announced Tuesday.

“As of Saturday, October 9, we have 10,688 Catholics who have committed to praying one rosary each week and fasting on Fridays through the end of October,” said Maggie Gallagher, executive director of the Benedict XVI Institute. The institute is administering the “Rose and Rosary for Nancy” campaign with the support of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Pelosi’s bishop in San Francisco.

“We hope the Blessed Mother will touch her maternal heart, as the Archbishop has put it so beautifully, and extend her compassion and respect for the equal dignity of all people to children in the womb,” said Gallagher.

The announcement coincides with the launch of a new advertisement featuring Cordileone. 

“This is a critical time in our country when we especially need to pray for our political leaders as we see our country moving more and more in the direction of the culture of death,” Cordileone says in the video advertisement. “Our leadership is very important, so I invite you all to join me in prayer and sacrifice for the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi from here in San Francisco.”

“Please join me in the Rose and Rosary for Nancy Campaign. Pray a rosary once a week for her. Fast on Friday, and you can sign the petition at BenedictInstitute.org. And if you commit to the rosary and fasting, we will send a rose to her as a symbol of your prayers and sacrifices,” Cordileone says in the video. 

The initial call to pray a rosary and to fast for Pelosi came on Sept. 29, following the House of Representatives’ passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021. The bill, which is not likely to pass in the Senate, would codify the legal right to an abortion into law. 

Pelosi championed the bill, despite her Catholic faith. In his message on Sept. 29, Cordileone singled her out as someone in need of ideological conversion on the issue of abortion. 

“A conversion of heart of the majority of our Congressional representatives is needed on this issue, beginning with the leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi,” he said. 

“Speaker Pelosi speaks fondly of her children. She clearly has a maternal heart. Pope Francis has called abortion murder, the equivalent of hiring a hitman to solve a problem,” Cordileone said. 

“The solution to a woman in a crisis pregnancy is not violence but love. Please join me in praying the rosary and fasting for a conversion of Speaker Pelosi’s maternal heart to embracing the goodness and dignity of human life not only after birth, but in the womb as well.”

Two days after the initial call for prayer, 1,000 roses were delivered to Pelosi’s office in San Francisco. Gallagher called the number of people who signed up to pray for Pelosi “remarkable,” and said she hoped more people would commit to prayer and fasting as the month continues.  

“This is more than a moment, it is a movement,” she said. “In less than a week, more than 10,000 Catholics responded to the call. By the end of October, Respect Life Month, let’s make it a shower of 50,000 roses and rosaries for Nancy.”

Gallagher noted that Pope Francis “recently called for us to take a pastoral approach to those who are not in full communion with our faith,” and said that Cordileone’s “Rose and Rosary For Nancy” campaign served as “a wonderful example to us all.” 

“The really hard teachings of Jesus are not really about chastity but about charity: Do good to those who do you wrong, or who do wrong to others —no matter what stage or condition of life they may be in,” she said. 

The Benedict XVI Institute is located in San Francisco. According to its website, the goal of the organization is to provide “practical resources for more beautiful and reverent liturgies and energizing a Catholic culture of the arts.” Cordileone is a board member of the institute.