World

Pope pleads for peace in countries bloodied by war

By AAP Newswire

Jan 2, 2026

Pope Leo XIV has opened 2026 with a plea for peace, singling out in particular countries "bloodied by conflict" and families wounded by violence.

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Leo celebrated a New Year's Day Mass in St Peter's Basilica and then delivered a special noon-time prayer from his studio overlooking the piazza, which was full of pilgrims and tourists on a bright and chilly day.

Leo noted that January 1 marks the church's World Day of Peace and used the occasion to issue a prayer.

"Let us all pray together for peace: first, among nations bloodied by conflict and suffering but also within our homes, in families wounded by violence or pain," he said.

After a busy Christmas season, Leo has a few days of rest before he celebrates the church's Epiphany holiday on January 6.

On that day too, he officially closes out the 2025 Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration that brought millions of pilgrims to Rome.

Immediately thereafter, he is to preside over a two-day meeting of the entire college of cardinals, the princes of the church who elected him pontiff as well as those who are over the age of 80 and did not participate in the conclave but still remain part of the college.

Leo is resurrecting a tradition largely eschewed by Pope Francis to convene cardinals every so often to seek their counsel on how to govern the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church.