Pope Leo declares 2026 “Year of St. Francis”
Pope Leo issued a special decree on Jan 10, 2026, establishing a “Year of St. Francis” to mark the 800th anniversary of the saint’s death. The year runs until Jan 10, 2027, and offers a plenary indulgence to faithful who visit any Franciscan church or place of worship worldwide, or for those unable to travel, through spiritual participation. Pope Leo emphasized the need for peace and urged Catholics to emulate St. Francis’s example amid a world of virtual reality, conflict, and division. The decree includes a letter to the Franciscan family, urging them to inspire trust in God, dedication to the Gospel, and active charity, concluding with a prayer for joy and harmony.
7 months ago
Pope Leo XIV issued a special decree on 10 January 2026 inaugurating a “Year of St Francis,” which will run until 10 January 2027 and offers the faithful a plenary indulgence for pilgrimages to Franciscan sites or, for those unable to travel, for spiritual participation from home. 1
The decree, dated 10 January 2026, marks the 800th anniversary of Saint Francis of Assisi’s death. The “Year of St Francis” begins on that date and concludes on 10 January 2027. 1
Pilgrims who visit any Franciscan conventual church or worship place dedicated to Saint Francis worldwide may receive a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions. The elderly, the sick, and those confined for serious reasons can obtain the same indulgence by spiritually joining the jubilee, offering prayers, pains, or sufferings. 1
In the decree, Pope Leo XIV observes that modern life is dominated by virtual realities, frequent disagreements, and social violence, making peace feel increasingly fragile. He urges the faithful to emulate Saint Francis—living in poverty, trusting Christ, and practicing active charity—to become peacemakers in a divided world. 1
Addressed to the Ministers General of the Franciscan Family, the Pope highlighted Saint Francis’s strong faith, steadfast hope, and ardent charity. He asked that the saint’s example inspire trust in the Lord, fidelity to the Gospel, and a prayerful response to life’s circumstances. The letter concluded with a prayer for the year, asking that Saint Francis continue to bring “perfect joy and harmony” to the Church. 1
The proclamation reflects Pope Leo XIV’s broader pastoral focus on reconciliation, peace, and a return to Gospel values amid contemporary challenges. By linking the jubilee to Saint Francis’s legacy, the Pope seeks to mobilize Catholics worldwide toward solidarity, humility, and active peacemaking. 1
Year of St. Francis: Catholic Church’s response to contemporary peace challenges
The Church’s commemoration of the eighth centenary of Saint Francis of Assisi’s death presents more than a historical celebration. It offers a spiritual and social framework for confronting war, militarization, polarization, poverty, forced migration, religious tensions, and ecological destruction. Saint Francis’ witness shows that peace begins in reconciliation with God, is expressed through humble encounter with others, and extends to care for creation. Pope Leo XIV presents this Franciscan vision as urgently relevant to a world marked by “seemingly interminable wars” and deepening divisions.
Catholic teaching holds together two truths that must not be separated: peace is God’s gift, and peace is also a human responsibility.
Saint Francis taught his followers to proclaim: “May the Lord give you peace.” This greeting reflects the Christian conviction that peace ultimately comes from above and cannot be manufactured by political arrangements alone. Yet the peace given by God is not passive or merely interior. It must be welcomed, practiced, and embodied in daily life.
The same pattern appears in the teaching of Pope Leo XIV. Peace is “the first gift of Christ,” but it is also “active and demanding.” It requires conversion of the heart: the rejection of pride, vindictiveness, hatred, and violent speech. Since words can wound as seriously as weapons, peacebuilding includes the purification of public discourse and personal communication.
The Second Vatican Council gives this theological vision a social and political form:
“Peace is not merely the absence of war… Instead, it is rightly and appropriately called an enterprise of justice.”
Peace, therefore, cannot mean only a temporary cessation of fighting or a balance of fear between opposing powers. It requires just institutions, respect for human dignity, fraternity, and the free sharing of human and material resources. It must be built continually because human beings are wounded by sin and social conditions are constantly changing.
Saint Francis offers a distinctive model of peacemaking. His approach was not based on domination, political power, or military superiority. Pope Leo XIV recalls Francis as one who was able to cross “the lines of war and misunderstanding” without weapons, and who sought to build bridges where others erected boundaries.
This does not imply naïveté concerning evil or the responsibilities of governments. Rather, it challenges the assumption that force is the primary or inevitable solution to conflict. Pope Leo has repeatedly insisted that war is not inevitable:
“Let us meet, let us talk, let us negotiate! War is never inevitable. Weapons are and must be silenced, for they do not resolve problems but only increase them.”
The Pope’s call is directed particularly to political leaders, because they possess the authority to initiate war, continue conflict, or create conditions for negotiation. He urges leaders to recognize that their neighbors are not first of all enemies but fellow human beings with whom communication remains possible. He also rejects simplistic, Manichean interpretations that divide the world absolutely between the supposedly pure and the supposedly evil.
The Church’s appeal to dialogue does not mean moral indifference. Dialogue must be connected to truth, justice, accountability, and the protection of victims. But it refuses the conclusion that recognizing an opponent’s humanity amounts to approving every action that opponent has taken. The goal is to reject evil without treating entire peoples as evil.
One of the most serious contemporary peace challenges is the normalization of war and the growing reliance on military deterrence. Pope Leo XIV warns that peace requires continuous and patient construction, especially from states possessing nuclear arsenals. He also expresses concern about the development of increasingly sophisticated weapons, including those involving artificial intelligence. Such technologies require ethical regulation centered on human freedom and responsibility.
The 2026 World Day of Peace message similarly warns that global politics is increasingly shaped by fear, domination, and military power. It criticizes the tendency to present ever-increasing military expenditure as the only realistic response to insecurity. The message notes that global military spending rose substantially in 2024 and that educational and media narratives can encourage an exclusively armed understanding of defense and security.
The Church’s response has several dimensions:
Catholic teaching does recognize the right of legitimate defense when peaceful means have been exhausted and when authorities act proportionately to protect the innocent. The Church has not therefore equated peace with the abolition of every form of defensive force under all circumstances. However, legitimate defense is morally distinct from aggression, revenge, conquest, or unlimited rearmament.
The Catholic Church’s response to conflict is not limited to public statements. It includes diplomatic engagement, humanitarian appeals, interreligious dialogue, prayer, and support for reconciliation processes.
Pope Leo XIV has called for the renewal of multilateral diplomacy and international institutions capable of addressing disputes. He also emphasizes that religious communities can contribute substantially to peace, provided that religious freedom is respected and dialogue is directed toward genuine communication rather than confrontation.
The Pope’s appeal regarding Myanmar illustrates this approach. He calls for inclusive dialogue, fair and timely humanitarian access, social cohesion, democratic responsibility, and integral human development. Peace is not reduced to the silencing of weapons; it requires political participation and institutions ordered toward the common good.
The Church also points to concrete examples in which negotiation has opened paths toward a less violent future. Pope Leo XIV identifies the Dayton Accords, the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and improved relations between Vietnam and the Holy See as “seeds of peace” requiring patient cultivation. These examples demonstrate that peace is difficult but realistic.
Pope Francis’ teaching in Fratelli Tutti deepens this perspective. Social peace is not produced by suppressing differences or imposing a superficial consensus. It requires a “culture of encounter,” in which people learn to accept differences, recognize that others may possess a legitimate point of view, and work together for shared objectives.
This is especially important in contemporary societies marked by political polarization, ideological hostility, social-media conflict, and distrust of institutions. The Church’s response is neither conformity nor relativism. It is a disciplined search for truth through patient encounter, in which the dignity of the person remains more important than winning an argument.
A major contribution of Catholic social teaching is its insistence that peace cannot be separated from justice. Inequality, exclusion, poverty, and lack of opportunity create conditions in which violence can grow.
Pope Leo XIV identifies justice as one of the essential foundations of peace. He calls attention to global inequalities between wealth and poverty, unjust working conditions, and societies increasingly fragmented by economic and social disparities. He also insists upon the dignity of every person, including the unborn, the elderly, the sick, the unemployed, immigrants, and refugees.
Pope Francis makes the same point in Fratelli Tutti:
“Inequality and lack of integral human development make peace impossible.”
This means that peacebuilding requires more than ceasefires. It requires addressing the conditions that cause people to feel abandoned, exploited, excluded, or without a future. The Church therefore connects peace with:
Saint Francis’ closeness to the poor gives this teaching a concrete form. Pope Leo XIV recalls Francis’ encounter with beggars in Rome, where he exchanged his clothing with a poor man and spent the day among those who were marginalized. The significance of this action is not merely charitable. Francis sought to encounter the poor personally, listen to them, and share their vulnerability.
A peace policy that speaks about vulnerable populations without listening to them risks becoming paternalistic. Franciscan peace begins by recognizing the poor not merely as recipients of assistance but as persons with dignity, agency, and something to contribute.
Saint Francis’ vision also expands the meaning of peace beyond human relationships. Because he saw the sun as “brother” and the moon as “sister,” he perceived creation as a family bearing the reflection of divine beauty. Pope Leo XIV therefore presents peace with God, peace among human beings, and peace with creation as inseparable dimensions of universal reconciliation.
Environmental destruction can intensify conflict by aggravating poverty, displacement, competition for resources, and social instability. Pope Francis had already identified conflicts over resources, hunger, migration, human trafficking, and economic injustice as challenges that require “a love full of truth” if peace is to be achieved.
The Franciscan contribution is therefore not simply a call to admire nature. It is a summons to adopt a humble relationship with creation, reject exploitative forms of domination, and understand the common home as a shared responsibility. Ecological conversion becomes part of peacemaking because it protects the conditions in which human communities can flourish.
The Catholic response to contemporary peace challenges involves the whole Church, not only the Holy See or political leaders. Christians are called to become “unarmed and disarming” witnesses of Christ’s peace.
This vocation can be expressed concretely through:
Pope Leo XIV emphasizes that peace must first be cultivated in the heart. Pride, resentment, vindictiveness, and careless speech can reproduce at the personal level the same logic that produces violence among nations. Saint Augustine’s insight, repeated in the 2026 World Day of Peace message, is therefore essential: those who wish to draw others toward peace must first possess peace within themselves and allow it to become a living flame.
The Year of St. Francis offers the Catholic Church a coherent response to the crises of the present age. It calls the Church to proclaim that peace comes from Christ, while insisting that believers must actively build peace through justice, dialogue, mercy, disarmament, solidarity with the poor, and care for creation.
Saint Francis does not provide a technical blueprint for resolving every geopolitical conflict. His importance lies deeper: he reveals the kind of person and community capable of peace. The peacemaker is humble rather than arrogant, courageous rather than passive, disarming rather than threatening, attentive to the poor rather than absorbed by power, and reconciled with God, neighbor, and creation.
In this perspective, peace is neither a naïve dream nor merely the management of violence. It is a demanding vocation grounded in the victory of Christ and pursued through the patient work of justice and fraternity. As the Church recalls the witness of Saint Francis, it is summoned to make his greeting its own: “May the Lord give you peace.”