A Prayer for Peace
Blog by Dr. Toni Pyke
In October last year, AMRI organised and attended a pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life. As part of this pilgrimage, along with many thousands of others, we passed through the Holy Doors, opened by Pope Francis in December 2024. Holy doors, located within the four major Papal basilicas in Rome (and for the Jubilee 2025, there was a fifth Holy Door within the walls of Rebibbia Prison in Rome), are ceremonially opened every 25 years signifying a jubilee year. They are considered ‘sacred portals’ that “represents the passage to salvation — the path to a new and eternal life, which was opened to humanity by Jesus,” Pope Francis in Spes Non Confundit (Hope Does Not Disappoint). Previously, the Jubilee year in 2000, enabled the opportunity to give momentum to the spirit of the Jubilee year to seek debt cancellation for all ‘unsustainable debts by the year 2000 through a fair and transparent process’. This resulted in over US$100 billion in debt cancellation and for almost 40 countries, a resolution to a debt crisis that had lasted since 1982.
Pope Francis’ successor, Pope Leo IV, closed the last of the Holy Doors at St. Peter’s Basilica on the feast of the Epiphany on January 6th 2026, marking the end of the Jubilee Year of Hope. Just three days before he did so, the world watched as the US bombed Venezuela and abducted its president, Nicolás Maduro and his wife, killing some 100 people in the process. Subsequent similar threats were made to other countries and nation States across the world. This is without the ongoing arming of Israel as it continues to violate the ceasefire with Hamas and labouring the genocide in Gaza and vacillating over peace in Ukraine.
Closer to home, Mark Rutte, president of the National Arms Treaty Organisation (NATO), an organisation established to make the world a safer place after World War II warned: “We must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents or great-grandparents endured.” To add to the fearmongering, various countries such as Sweden, Finland, Norway and France are preparing their populations for potential war, distributing households with written resources that offer advice on stockpiling food and water, and what to do during communication and power outages. It is unclear at this stage who the ‘enemy’ is, given the plethora of wars and potential perpetrators. As Pope Leo recently alerted, “War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading”. What is clear, however, is that many governments across the world are preparing for large-scale war and that the only winners is the arms industry who saw an increase in their review by 5.9 percent (in 2024) to a record $679 billion. The recent announcements will only see greater increases in government spending on arms and higher profits for the industry (see an interesting infographic on the top 10 arms producers HERE).
Each day as I trowel through my emails, watch the ‘news’, scroll through social media, I am exposed to new and creative grotesque displays of inhumanity and compassion mockery across all spheres and platforms. It is so difficult to find and be able to share the hope amidst the deafening noise.
However, during the scrolling, I recently came across a headline in the Independent (of all places!) which read: “The only person who can stop Donald Trump now is Pope Leo”. Stuck behind a paywall, I wasn’t able to read the full article. But the headline was enough to stop me in my tracks and prevent me from further ‘doomscrolling’ down yet more conspiracy theory ‘rabbit holes’. This was enough to remind me that while the Holy Doors are now sealed, hope does not close with the doors. Hope continues to live in each of us, and we are called to remain ‘bearers of hope’ (Pope Francis). From the beginning of his papacy Pope Leo has promoted peace, offering ‘Peace be with you all’ the day he became Pope. His message on the World Day of Peace on 1st January this year, reminds us of “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.” He continues that “In order to overcome the darkness, it is necessary to see the light and believe in it.” This is hope and this is our mission, to “resist the spread of darkness, standing as sentinels in the night” (watch the video HERE).
So, as we begin 2026, may we reflect on the blessings offered to us by Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:2-10), “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” and share the peace of Christ, with a “humble and peace-loving heart” (Pope Leo).
AMRI collaborates with various individuals and groups in promoting peace at home and overseas. Contact info@amri.ie if you would like to get involved.
