58th World Day of Peace will be celebrated on Wednesday, 1st January 2025
The Holy Father’s words
For the World Day of Peace, which falls every 1 January, Pope Francis addressed a Message on the theme ‘Forgive us our trespasses: grant us your peace’, to Heads of State and Government, Heads of International Organisations, Leaders of different religions and every person of good will.
In his message The Holy Father recommends three actions that can truly mark a path of peace: the forgiveness of the international debt; the abolition of the death penalty; the establishment of a World Fund that will definitively eliminate hunger.
The Message ends with this prayer:
Forgive us our trespasses, Lord,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
In this cycle of forgiveness, grant us your peace,
the peace that you alone can give
to those who let themselves be disarmed in heart,
to those who choose in hope to forgive the debts of their brothers and sisters,
to those who are unafraid to confess their debt to you,
and to those who do not close their ears to the cry of the poor.
Images
- Photo by Sunguk Kim on Unsplash