Lent 2026
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Pope Leo XIV’s very first word as pope were “Peace be with you all!” and peace has been his constant theme ever since.
“The world is thirsting for peace,” he said. “Enough of war, with all the pain it causes through death, destruction and exile!”
But Pope Leo doesn’t just call for peace — he explains how to gain it: both interior peace, and its mirror, world peace.
1: It’s hard to be a peacemaker.
Reminding them that Jesus said “Blessed are the peacemakers” Leo told young people, “To be a peacemaker is no easy matter: it forces us out of our comfort zones of distraction and indifference, and may well be resisted by those who have an interest in perpetuating conflicts.”
2: Peace has to be total.
Leo told the members of movements for peace, “As John Paul II pointed out, peace is an indivisible good; it is either everyone’s or no one’s.”
3: Peace starts in individual hearts, then ripples outward.
Leo told young people:
“What we need is to cultivate peace in our own hearts and in our relationships, to let it blossom in our daily actions, to work for reconciliation in our homes, our communities, our schools and workplaces.”
4: Peace is divisive.
Peace takes daring because it divides us, Pope Leo XIV said:
“Dear friends, the world accustoms us to exchanging peace for comfort, good for tranquility. Therefore, in order for his peace, the shalom of God, to come among us, Jesus has to say to us: ‘I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!’ Perhaps our own relatives, as the Gospel foretells, and even our friends will be divided on this.”
5: Peace requires taking a stand.
The Holy Father said in an audience, “At times we would like to be ‘left in peace’: for no-one to disturb us, for others not to exist anymore. This is not God’s peace. The peace Jesus brings is like a fire, and it asks a lot of us. It asks us, first of all, to take a stand. Faced with injustice, inequality, where human dignity is trampled underfoot, where the fragile are silenced: take a stand. To hope is to take a stand.”
6: War comes from “religion without prayer.”
Leo said that “Those who practice religion without prayer run the risk of misusing it, even to the point of killing. Prayer is a movement of the spirit and an opening of the heart. It is not shouting words, displaying behavior or religious slogans against God’s creatures. We have faith that prayer changes the course of history.”
7: Peace requires mercy.
In an Angelus greeting, Leo said:
“We feel powerless before the spread of violence in the world — a violence increasingly deaf and insensitive to any stirring of humanity. Yet we must not cease to hope: God is greater than the sin of human beings. We must not resign ourselves to the prevalence of the logic of conflict and of arms. With Mary, we believe that the Lord continues to come to the aid of his children, remembering his mercy. Only in this mercy can we return to the way of peace.”
8: Peace comes from the Lord's wounds — and ours.
Pope Leo XIV told the world in his Christmas blessing: “The Lord shows us his wounds and says: ‘Peace be with you.’ Do not be afraid to show your wounds healed by mercy. Do not be afraid to draw close to those who are trapped in fear or guilt. May the breath of the Spirit make us, too, witnesses of this peace and this love that is stronger than any defeat.”
9: The Eucharist fuels peace.
Pope Leo in a homily that when “we receive communion,” we feed “the fire of love, which lowers itself and serves, which opposes indifference with care and arrogance with meekness; the fire of goodness, which does not cost as much as weapons, but freely renews the world. It may cost misunderstanding, mockery, even persecution, but there is no greater peace than having its flame within us.”
10: Peace takes daring — and trust.
Peace is a risk, Leo said: “We must dare peace! Even if the world turns a deaf ear to this appeal, we are certain that God will hear our prayer and the cries of so many who suffer. God wants a world without war. He will free us from this evil!”
How to be at the service of peace
First of all, at this time of bloodstained conflict and violence in places both near and far, Catholics and Orthodox are called to be peacemakers.
This certainly means taking action, making choices and adopting gestures that build peace, while also acknowledging that peace is not merely the fruit of human effort, but is a gift from God.
Peace, therefore, must be sought through prayer, penance, contemplation and nurturing a living relationship with the Lord, who helps us to discern what words, gestures, and actions to undertake so that we can genuinely be at the service of peace.
