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World Day of Peace
1 January 2021 @ 8:00 am – 5:00 pm AEDT
Pope Paul VI instituted the World Day of Peace in 1968. It is celebrated each year on 1 January and the Pope issues a special World Day of Peace Message for the occasion.
The theme for the World Day of Peace Message 2021 is A Culture of Care as a Path to Peace. Pope Francis begins by reflecting that 2020 has shown us “how important it is to care for one another and for creation”. Hence he proposes a culture of care “as a way to combat the culture of indifference, waste and confrontation so prevalent in our time”.
In the Message Pope Francis traces how care and protection, love and compassion permeate the Christian story from creation, throughout the life and ministry of Jesus, in the early church and as the “beating heart of the Church’s social doctrine” today.
The full text of the Message is available here. Download our Discussion Guide here.
You can find Pope Francis’ World Day of Peace Messages here.