PEIThe Bishop of Charlottetown has recently returned to the Island after a pilgrimage to Rome to meet the new pope, Pope Leo XIV, and give him a gift.’They are so beautiful because they really define our Island and our diocese’Ryan McKellop · CBC News · Posted: Aug 17, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours agoJoseph Dabrowski, the Bishop of Charlottetown, gave Pope Leo XIV an Island-inspired rosary while on a recent pilgrimage to Rome. (Jackie Sharkey/CBC)Joseph Dabrowski, the Bishop of Charlottetown, has recently returned to P.E.I. after a pilgrimage to Rome to meet Pope Leo XIV and give him a rosary.Dabrowski said he only had a few minutes to speak with the Pope this week.He told the Pope that he is always giving rosaries to others, so Dabrowski wanted to offer a gift in return.”I said, ‘Pope Leo, you give the rosary to everybody, but nobody gives rosary to you. So here is a rosary from Prince Edward Island, from my diocese.'”Dabrowski said the rosary was made in true Island fashion using fishing nets.”He looked at it and said bella in Italian, which means beautiful, and he put it into his pocket. So I can tell, probably, Pope Leo is going to use our rosary to pray.”Dabrowski said the rosary is beautiful in its simplicity.”I like to keep [them] in my pocket. This is very simple. [It] doesn’t take too much space and it’s so meaningful.”Dabrowski said the Pope welcomed the gift. (Gwen Chevarie)Dabrowski said someone began making the rosaries for the Knights of Columbus and interest has grown from there. There are plans to make more of them.”They are so beautiful because they really define our Island and our diocese,” he said.ABOUT THE AUTHORRyan McKellop is a graduate of the Holland College Journalism program and a web writer at CBC P.E.I.With files from Jackie Sharkey
Bishop of Charlottetown gives Pope Leo XIV Island-inspired handmade rosary
