At the beginning of the year 2026, on January 1st, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, presided over the Holy Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and the 59th World Day of Peace at the Pro-Cathedral of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem.

The Mass was concelebrated by Msgr. William Shomali, General Vicar of the Latin Patriarchate, Msgr. Adolfo Tito Yllana, Apostolic Nuncio to the Holy Land, Msgr. Bolous Marcuzzo, and Msgr. Ilario Antoniazzi, together with several priests. The celebration was attended by the Spanish Consul, representatives of the French and Italian Consulates, as well as numerous Knights and Dames of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre , religious sisters, and the faithful of Jerusalem.

The World Day of Peace, observed on January 1st each year, is an annual liturgical day established by Pope Paul VI in 1967 dedicated to prayer and reflection on ways methods to build peace in the world. “Towards an ‘unarmed and disarming’ peace,” is the theme chosen by Pope Leo XIV for this year’s 59th World Day of Peace, which speaks to the recent violence witnessed worldwide ensuring that true peace does not come through violence, but from God who loves us all unconditionally, through the peace of the Risen Christ.

“Theotókos” the revelation of a divine method

Reflecting on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and the World Day of Peace, Cardinal Pizzaballa emphasized in his homily, that the two celebrations are inseparably linked, affirming that “Mary is the root of peace because she brought into the world its Prince, the One who is our peace.” He explained that beginning the new year with Mary means choosing “not calculation, but acceptance; not fear, but trust,” following the humble “yes” through which God entered human history.

Commenting on the Gospel, the Patriarch highlighted Mary’s interior attitude of “treasuring and pondering,” presenting it as the foundation of authentic peace in a world marked by haste, noise, and violence. “Mary teaches us that there is no outward peace without this inner patience, without this spiritual “gestation” of events in the light of God,” he said.

Referring to the title Theotókos, Mother of God, proclaimed by the Council of Ephesus, he noted that it is “the revelation of a divine method,” describing the Mother of God as “the theological place where we understand how God wishes to act.” 

Peace, he explained, “does not descend from above like a magical miracle that cancels contradictions; it sprouts slowly, like a seed, from the fertile ground of a heart that says, ‘here I am,’ that becomes space, that makes itself available.” – Card. Pizzaballa
 

Reflecting on the priestly blessing from the Book of Numbers, the Patriarch affirmed that peace is “not the absence of problems or conflicts,” but “the presence of the Face of God”, who in Jesus meets our humanity tand shines in our darkness.” He invited the faithful to become, like Mary, “reflections,” “guardians,” and “mediators” of God’s light, in a world marked by wounds, fears, and a deep longing for hope.

Read more: https://www.lpj.org/en/news/cardinal-pizzaballa-reflects-on-a-marian-path-towards-peace-to

By Miral Atik | lpj.org