Message for World Day of Peace 2026

“Peace be with you all. Towards an unarmed and disarming peace” is the theme of Pope Leo XIV's Message for the World Day of Peace 2026 which will be celebrated on January 1, 2026. The Holy Father invites everyone to welcome peace and become witnesses to it because it “exists; it wants to dwell within us. It has the gentle power to enlighten and expand our understanding; it resists and overcomes violence. Peace is a breath of the eternal”. Christians must become witnesses, and quoting St. Augustine, the Pope invites them " to forge an unbreakable bond with peace”. We are all invited to walk this path traced by the Risen One. He himself embodied unarmed peace because "his was an unarmed struggle”.

Peace is a gift that must be safeguarded, in fact if it “is not  a reality that is lived, cultivated and protected, then aggression spreads into domestic and public life” and one can fall into the trap of thinking that in order to achieve it, one must prepare for war by embodying the “irrationality of relations between nations, built not on law, justice and trust, but on fear and domination by force”.

The Holy Father recalls that St. Augustine recommends “not to burn bridges or persist in reproach, but to prefer listening and, where possible, engaging in discussions with others ”

In order to achieve disarming peace, we must embody meekness because “goodness is disarming. Perhaps this is why God became a child”.

Peace comes from evangelical humility. A child, in all its fragility, could change hearts, question our choices, and lay down our weapons. 

Pope Leo reminds us that peace is possible, it is not a utopia, and that ecumenical and interreligious dialogue are privileged ways to achieve it. Nor must we forget to embark on “the disarming path of diplomacy, mediation, and international law,” which requires mutual trust, loyalty, and responsibility in the commitments we make.

"This is the peace of the risen Christ – a peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering. It comes from God who loves us all unconditionally " Pope Leo XIV

The presentation of the Message for World Peace Day 2026 took place in the Holy See Press Office on December 18, 2025.

The following spoke at the press conference: Cardinal Michael Czerny SJ, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; Prof. Tommaso Greco, Full Professor of Philosophy of Law at the University of Pisa; Don Pero Miličević, Parish Priest of SS. Luca e Marco Evangelisti, Mostar (Bosnia); and Dr. Maria Agnese Moro, journalist and daughter of Aldo Moro.

The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development has prepared a video in five languages and an infographic to explore and disseminate the Message.