{"id":374622,"date":"2025-12-27T15:48:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T15:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/374622\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T15:48:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T15:48:24","slug":"receiving-the-59th-world-day-of-peace-message-in-the-current-australian-context","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/374622\/","title":{"rendered":"Receiving the 59th World Day of Peace Message in the current Australian context"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sister Adele Howard, RSM, a lecturer in Theology and Australian Studies at the Australian Catholic University looks at the 59th World Day of Peace Message of Pope Leo XIV in the current Australian context.<\/p>\n

By Adele Howard<\/p>\n

As we in Australia reflect on the message of Pope Leo XIV for the 59th\u00a0World Day of Peace (1 January 2026), we stand in the midst of a global struggle between light and darkness, goodness and evil. Until recently, we had been at a distance from the extreme violence and destruction of\u00a0war and terrorism in countries such as Sudan, Ukraine and in the Middle East.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, on Sunday, 14 December 2025, Australia\u2019s peace was shattered when two armed\u00a0gunmen, a father and son, shot and killed 15 people, wounded 40 others and traumatised the\u00a0Jewish community whom they had targeted. The Australian nation was shocked and stunned by\u00a0this event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hundreds of members of the Jewish community were gathered in an area of Bondi Beach,\u00a0Sydney, Australia\u2019s most iconic beach, for the first night of Hanukkah, the eight-day, Jewish\u00a0\u201cFestival of Lights\u201d, when the shots rang out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the Jewish Community, the lighting of the Hanukkah candle symbolises the transformation\u00a0of darkness into light and proclaims that light cannot be extinguished by darkness.<\/p>\n

In his message for the 59th\u00a0World Day of Peace<\/a>, Pope Leo tells us that \u201camid the trials we face in\u00a0our historical circumstances [in] order to overcome the darkness, it is necessary to see the light\u00a0and believe in it\u201d. For Christians, the symbol of light is central to our faith: Jesus is the light of the\u00a0world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the face of the murderous actions of the terrorists, the threat of the extinguishment of that\u00a0light and peace became a reality in the Australian Community. Yet, the immediate actions of\u00a0the life-guards, the paramedics, the police, brave members of the public and 100,000 of their\u00a0fellow citizens to donate blood and plasma that the wounded of Bondi might live, witnessed to\u00a0the power of humanity to shine a light in the darkest and direst of circumstances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On 21 December, exactly a week after the horrific event and the final full day of Hanukkah, a\u00a0National Day of Reflection \u201cLight over Darkness: Night of Unity\u201d was held at Bondi Beach, led by\u00a0the Jewish community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All Australians were invited to light a candle at 6:47 pm \u2013 the time when the massacre occurredand\u00a0observe a minute\u2019s silence as an act of remembrance for the 15 persons who lost their\u00a0lives, the seriously injured and for all impacted by what had occurred. This was a call to stand\u00a0with our Jewish community, to share in their grief and by so doing, agirm that hatred and\u00a0violence will not define the Australian people. However, during this event it became clear that\u00a0anger and hostility were threatening to polarise the wider response to this tragedy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Addressing the issue of how we \u201cdefuse hostility through dialogue\u201d, Pope Leo\u2019s message\u00a0stresses the peacemaker role for all religions \u201cto guard against the growing temptation to\u00a0weaponize even thoughts and words. The great spiritual traditions, as well as right reason, teach\u00a0us to look beyond blood ties or ethnicity, beyond associations that accept only those who are\u00a0similar and reject those who are digerent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among the invited speakers was the State Premier, Chris Minns. In his address Premier Minns, a\u00a0Catholic, quoted from Psalm 34 and reflected on it. \u201cThe Psalm does not end with solely\u00a0government responsibility. It says, \u2018Seek peace and pursue it \u2019and that is the task of every\u00a0citizen. Peace doesn\u2019t happen by accident. It must be actively pursued through compassion,\u00a0through kindness and moral courage. Government can encourage and support it, but people\u00a0must live it.\u201d In this he echoes Pope Leo\u2019s words to every person to believe that peace is\u00a0possible, \u201cDear Brothers and Sisters\u2026Let us open ourselves to peace! Let us welcome it and\u00a0recognize it, rather than believing it to be impossible and beyond our reach.\u201d Pope Leo\u00a0continues, \u201cWhen we treat peace as a distant ideal, we cease to be scandalized when it is\u00a0denied, or even when war is waged in its name.\u201d It is for this reason that \u201cEven when it is\u00a0endangered within us and around us, like a small flame threatened by a storm, we must protect\u00a0it.\u201d\u00a0through kindness and moral courage. Government can encourage and support it, but people\u00a0must live it.\u201d In this he echoes Pope Leo\u2019s words to every person to believe that peace is\u00a0possible, \u201cDear Brothers and Sisters\u2026Let us open ourselves to peace! Let us welcome it and\u00a0recognize it, rather than believing it to be impossible and beyond our reach.\u201d Pope Leo\u00a0continues, \u201cWhen we treat peace as a distant ideal, we cease to be scandalized when it is\u00a0denied, or even when war is waged in its name.\u201d It is for this reason that \u201cEven when it is\u00a0endangered within us and around us, like a small flame threatened by a storm, we must protect\u00a0it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Throughout the months of his pontificate, beginning with his Apostolic Blessing on the evening\u00a0of his election, Pope Leo has uttered the first words of Jesus spoken to His disciples after the\u00a0Resurrection, \u201cPeace be with you\u201d (Jn 20:19,21). This ancient greeting, with its biblical roots, is\u00a0shared by the other Abrahamic faiths: in Judaism, “Shalom Aleichem” (Peace be upon you), in\u00a0Islam, \u201cAs-salamu alaykum\u201d (Peace be unto you). In Christianity, Pope Leo makes clear, it is the\u00a0peace of the risen Christ that is ogered, \u201cA peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and\u00a0persevering\u201d, bringing about a lasting transformation in those who receive it coming \u201cfrom God\u00a0who loves us all unconditionally\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Introducing the concept of an \u2018unarmed peace\u2019, the Holy Father reflects on the instruction Jesus\u00a0gave to the Apostles ahead of His arrest and death, and His command to Peter to put away his\u00a0sword rather than act to defend him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe peace of the risen Jesus is unarmed, because his was an unarmed struggle in the midst of\u00a0concrete historical, political and social circumstances,\u201d Pope Leo writes. \u201cChristians must\u00a0together bear prophetic witness to this novelty, mindful of the tragedies in which they have too\u00a0often been complicit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

These words must resonate for governments in Australia, now debating tougher proposed gun\u00a0laws in response to the Bondi tragedy while identifying our new global responsibilities for\u00a0building peace. This deeper capacity could lead to a more egective contribution to peace in our\u00a0Oceania region and across our world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a world that equates strength with domination, Pope Leo tells us that \u201cGoodness is\u00a0disarming.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pope Leo proposes practical steps to achieve global peace: \u201cWe need to encourage and support\u00a0every spiritual, cultural and political initiative that keeps hope alive\u2026 to cultivate prayer,\u00a0spirituality, and ecumenical and interreligious dialogue as paths of peace\u2026we must promote\u00a0self-awareness in civil societies, forms of responsible association, experiences of nonviolent\u00a0participation, and practices of restorative justice on both a small and large scale.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the months ahead, as the country emerges from the tragic terrorist attack in Sydney,\u00a0Australians will need to work together to find new expressions of mutual trust and peace in\u00a0order to achieve lasting harmony in our society.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sister Adele Howard, RSM, a lecturer in Theology and Australian Studies at the Australian Catholic University looks at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,16385,44,56036,96232,202321],"class_list":["post-374622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-message","tag-news","tag-peace","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-world-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}