At the beginning of the year 2026, on January 1, 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 1 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.” 

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 and 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.

“Even in this new digital continent, the method remains Marian”

Extending this call to contemporary realities, Cardinal Pizzaballa reminded the faithful that “technology is always an extension of the human heart.” He urged the faithful to become “artisans of peace” even in the digital world, safeguarding human dignity and serving the truth with charity. Referring to the recent war, he noted that digital spaces often became instruments of manipulation, division, oppressive surveillance, and new loneliness, yet Christians are called to transform them into places of encounter, responsible communication, and peace-building, using every word shared and every choice made online as an ethical act in service of the common good.

A Marian path for the New Year

Concluding his homily, Cardinal Pizzaballa invited the faithful to embrace three essential attitudes, “to treasure, to ponder, and to welcome”, as an antidote to violence and a concrete method for building peace. Placing the new year under the maternal protection of Mary, Mother of God, he prayed that the face of God may shine upon all families and communities, upon the wounded yet beloved Holy Land, and upon a world longing for hope, invoking “a peace that is born from the heart of God, passes through the heart of a Mother, and is entrusted to our hands and hearts as children.”

At the end of Mass, His Beatitude greeted all the faithful at the Diwan of the Latin Patriarchate, wishing them a happy and blessed New Year!