World Day of Peace 2026

The World Day for Peace is an annual celebration of the Catholic Church begun by Pope Paul VI as a day of reflection and prayer and Solemnity of Mary. Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that it is the human person, created and redeemed by God, where we encounter the foundation for peace.

Made in God’s image, human beings have the dignity of persons; the capability of knowing oneself, of self control, of free self surrender and of entering into communion with others. And only respecting the person does one promote peace  and constructing peace lay the base for an authentic, integral humanism. According to Pope Benedict, every person has a transcendent grammar, recorded in the human heart. There, we find the “natural law” that obliges us to respect the  dignity and inalienable rights of every person: the right to life, truth, religious liberty, enjoying the goods of the earth with a just distribution...  It is from this base that we feel our obligation to denounce the abuse of these rights and fight against unjust inequality.

One very important aspect in the work of peace is ecology ~ seen in it’s three dimensions ~ ecology of  the natural environment, human ecology and social ecology. Every disrespectful attitude with the environment brings damage to our co-existence. Development that is limited to technology and economics while disregarding the moral and religious dimension, cannot be integral human development ~ and being unilateral, will end with promoting destructive capabilities of man. Disciples of Jesus Christ ~ let us dream, pray and work for a world that is more just, that strives for solidarity... In Him, who is “our peace“ (Ef. 2:14) we encounter our model to make us firm defenders of human dignity and audacious constructors of peace!