The Holy Father is celebrating his first Christmas as pope with an emphasis on peace.
Throughout Advent, Pope Leo XIV has emphasized the need for peace this Christmas. He began the season with his first Papal visit to the Middle East where he emphasized peace between peoples and faiths. On December 6, he met with newly appointed ambassadors to the Holy See and spoke about the importance of working towards peace throughout the world. Later in the month, he addressed Italian diplomats who had journeyed to Rome for their Jubilee pilgrimage. During this address, he echoed Pope Paul VI’s address to the United Nations:
No more war, war never again! Peace, peace must guide the destinies of Peoples and of all humanity!
Similarly, Pope Leo attended an elementary school Christmas concert and told the students that the words of their songs taught the importance of doing “more to promote peace, love and unity in the world.” Then on December 18, the Vatican released the Pope’s reflections for the World Day of Peace (January 1), in which he highlights our need to seek Jesus’s “disarmed peace” in our own world. He shared this message in a more personal way on December 19, when he asked the youth of Italian Catholic Action to find a way to “make peace” with someone before Christmas. He told the children:
We all desire this peace for nations wounded by conflict, but let us remember that harmony and respect begin in our daily relationships, in the gestures and words we exchange at home, at the parish, with schoolmates, in sports.
Pope Leo doubled down on his message of peace during the final week of Advent. He ushered it in by blessing figures of the infant Jesus that will be placed in nativity scenes around the world. During the blessing, he addressed the children who presented the figures, saying:
Dear children, as you stand before your Nativity scenes, please pray to Jesus for the Pope’s intentions as well. In particular, let us pray together that all the world’s children may live in peace. I thank you from the bottom of my heart!
On Monday of Christmas week, Pope Leo greeted the Roman Curia, urging them to seek personal conversions that lead to peace within the Church. He emphasized that relationships within the Church should witness to the peace heralded by Christ’s birth, saying:
The Lord’s birth brings the gift of peace and invites us to become its prophetic sign in a human and cultural context that is too fragmented.
During his interaction with journalists on Tuesday, Pope Leo then directed his message of peace outward, calling for a global day of peace in celebration of Christmas. He expressed sorrow that Russia appears to have rejected his plea but reiterated his request that, “at least on the feast of the birth of the Savior, one day of peace may be respected.” Pope Leo shifted his attention to the Middle East and expressed his hope that the ceasefire in Gaza will move forward.
On Christmas Eve, Vatican News shared the Pope’s Christmas card which further highlighted his emphasis on peace this Christmas. The card bears the quotation, “The Christmas of the Lord is the Christmas of Peace,” which is from one of St. Leo the Great’s sermons.
Considering the Holy Father’s clear emphasis on peace this Christmas, let us join with him in praying for a day of peace throughout the world during the feast of Jesus’s birth and an increasingly disarmed peace as we move into 2026.
Image: WPI, December 2025
Ariane Sroubek is a writer, school psychologist and mother to two children here on earth. Prior to converting to Catholicism, she completed undergraduate studies in Bible and Theology at Gordon College in Wenham, MA. She then went on to obtain her doctorate in School and Child Clinical Psychology. Ariane’s writing is inspired by her faith, daily life experiences and education. She is currently writing a women's fiction novel and a middle-grade mystery series. Her non-fiction book, Raising Sunshine: A Guide to Parenting Through the Aftermath of Infant Death is available on Amazon. More of her work can be found at https://mysustaininggrace.com.
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