Pope Leo XIV opened 2026 in Rome with a plea for peace that extended from nations at war to households affected by violence, drawing on the church’s annual New Year’s observance. The pope celebrated a New Year’s Day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, then delivered a special noontime prayer from his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square, where pilgrims and tourists gathered on a bright, chilly day, according to the Associated Press.
In the prayer, Pope Leo XIV pointed to Jan. 1 as the church’s World Day of Peace and asked the faithful to pray together for peace. He singled out “among nations bloodied by conflict and suffering” and also “within our homes, in families wounded by violence or pain,” the pope said, framing the observance as a call not only for diplomacy but also for safety and relief within families.
The pope’s New Year’s message came as he prepared for a brief pause after a busy Christmas season. After the New Year’s Day rites and the noontime prayer, Pope Leo XIV planned to take a few days of rest before the next major liturgical milestone.
On Jan. 6, Pope Leo XIV is set to celebrate the Epiphany holiday, the next stage in the Vatican’s calendar following New Year’s Day. That day also includes an official milestone for the Catholic Church: the pope plans to close out the 2025 Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration that drew millions of pilgrims to Rome.
Immediately after the Holy Year closes, Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to preside over a two-day meeting of the College of Cardinals. The Vatican’s cardinals include not only those who elected him pope, but also those who are over age 80 and did not participate in the conclave yet remain part of the college, as the AP reported.
The meeting is described as the revival of a tradition that Pope Francis largely set aside: convening cardinals periodically to seek their counsel on how to govern the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church.