'PEACE BE WITH YOU' - REFLECTIONS ON POPE LEO'S MESSAGE FOR WORLD DAY OF PEACE 2026

Fr Billy Swan

On this New Year’s Day and on this ‘World Day of Peace’, I wish you all a very happy new year. I hope and pray that 2026 may be a year of peace for everyone and for our troubled world. On this day, we again dare to hope that our hearts, our families and our world will have greater peace. We think of and pray especially for places and people who are lacking that peace and where there is most need of the peace that Christ came to bring.

The theme of Pope Leo XIV’s Message for this ‘World Day of Peace’ is “Peace be with you all: Towards an unarmed and disarming peace”. The proclamation of peace is at the heart of the Good News of Jesus Christ. It is the first gift of the risen Lord to his disciples on Easter Sunday – Shalom. The depths of God’s love and forgiveness are already seen in this Easter gift as it is offered unconditionally to his friends who betrayed him, denied him and fled in his hour of need. The Hebrew term Shalom that Jesus uses, speaks of a peace that is deep and profound. It is the gift of peace and forgiveness but also wholeness, completeness, prosperity, and well-being. It is the peace that is the fruit of lives that are centred on God and in harmony with his kingdom.

Pope Leo’s choice of Easter peace to begin his message for this day is no surprise as it was also his opening words to the world following his election as Pope on 8th May last year; “Peace be with you all!”. The second part of the theme is less obvious but no less important. ‘Towards an unarmed and disarming peace’ is a reference to Europe’s ongoing security issues and future concerns that have been responded to with a massive multi-billion dollar campaign to arm nations to defend their borders in the light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Pope Leo invites us along a different path. He knows that true and lasting peace cannot arise from political independence alone. He invites humanity to reject the logic of violence and war, and to embrace an authentic peace based on love and justice. This peace must be unarmed, that is, not based on fear, threats or weapons. And it must be disarming, capable of resolving conflicts, opening hearts and generating mutual trust, empathy and hope. It is not enough to call for peace; we must embody it in a way of life that rejects every form of violence, whether it be visible or systemic.

His message also speaks to every human heart that longs for the peace that only God can give. In the words of his spiritual father St Augustine: “You have made us for yourself O God and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee” (Confessions, 1,1,1).

On this ‘World Day of Peace’, may we be blessed with God’s peace that comes with his presence and obedience to his will. In the words of Dante: ‘In His will is our peace’. But may we also be bearers of God’s peace that is so badly needed in society and in the world today. Each of us are called to be like Mary the Mother of God whose feast we also celebrate today, she who is the ‘God bearer’ and carrier of peace. She brought peace and joy to Elizabeth. She bore the Prince of Peace in her womb and extends that peace to us her children. Every day she gently directs us to her Son and to the gift he offered his disciples after his resurrection: ‘Peace be with you’.