Introduction
The Call of the 25th General Chapter identifies peacemaking and bridge-building to heal divisions and fractured relationships (within our Congregation and beyond) as two of the means by which we strive to be credible witnesses of universal communion. Pope Leo XIV, like his predecessor Pope Francis, promotes peacemaking and bridge-building, encouraging all the faithful to be artisans of peace and reconciliation. As we embark upon this new year, let us take time to reflect upon this aspect of our call (and faith) and commit to embracing it ever more fully in our lives, our community activities, and societal engagements.
Call to Prayer
Loving God, there is much conflict and division in our world these days. As we strive to be credible witnesses of universal communion, help us to recognize the ways we can promote peace and bridge-building in how we live and interact with others, how we minister, and how we engage in community and society. Amen
Experience
The first public words spoken by Pope Leo XIV really resonated with me. Do you remember what he said? “Peace be with you all!” Echoing the peace offered by the risen Christ, Pope Leo shared a message of peace “to resound in your hearts, your families, among all people…in every nation and throughout the world.” (“Urbi et Orbi”, May 8, 2025)
In this first address and on several subsequent occasions, Pope Leo has used the phrase “unarmed and disarming” to characterize the type of peace he hopes for the world. “This peace must be unarmed, that is, not based on fear, threats, or weapons….And it must be disarming, capable of resolving conflicts, opening hearts, and generating mutual trust, empathy, and hope.”
Echoing Pope Francis, Pope Leo said that “building peace starts by standing alongside victims and seeing things from their point of view.” “This approach is essential,” he said, “for disarming hearts, approaches, and mentalities, and for denouncing the injustices of a system that kills and is based on the throwaway culture.”
Pope Leo emphasizes that “peace begins with each one of us: in the way we look at others, listen to others, and speak about others.” He says, “the road to peace involves everyone and leads to the fostering of right relationships between all living beings.” He reminds us that, “It is not enough to call for peace. We must embody it in a way of life that rejects every form of violence, whether it be visible or systemic.” Peacebuilding is “a task entrusted to all.”
Pope Leo has also made several statements on bridge-building, often emphasizing dialogue and encounter as ways to create unity and peace. He has said the church must “build bridges and dialogue, not walls,” and that people should build bridges with “dialogue and encounter, to come together as one people, always in peace.”
Reflection
Pope Leo has called on all institutions – educational, economic, and social – to be “institutions of peace” rooted in dialogue, justice, forgiveness. As one commentator put it, “spaces where hostility can be defused and hope restored.” Do you view the SSND places you are familiar with as “institutions of peace?” Why or why not? Do you believe they engage in peacemaking and bridge-building? How might we improve on these efforts?
The Call of the 25th General Chapter references “our interdependence with one another and the whole of creation.” Pope Leo says, “the road to peace involves everyone and leads to the fostering of right relationships between all living beings.” In what ways have you observed SSND promoting peace and right relationship with the whole of creation? What can you do (we do) to improve upon these efforts?
Pope Leo says peacebuilding is “a task entrusted to all.” Given your current life situation and ministry engagements, how are you (or can you) engage in peacebuilding? In bridge-building?
Action
The Call of the 25th General Chapter reminds us that “we are educators in all that we are and do, exploring concrete avenues to eliminate root causes of injustice.” On or around January 24, the International Day of Education, identify one way you, as an educator, can further promote peacemaking and bridge-building.
In addition to peacemaking and bridge-building, the Call of the 25th General Chapter identifies forgiveness, reconciliation, dialogue, and compassion as means by which we can heal divisions and fractured relationships. Take at least one step this month (prayer or otherwise) to help heal a division and/or a fractured relationship within your family, your community, and/or with some other aspect creation.
Pope Leo has stressed the importance of encounter and dialogue as foundational steps to bridge-building and peacemaking. Explore ways you can encounter, dialogue, or engage with someone who has a different point of view than you as it relates to faith, community, creation, or some topic of division.
Closing Prayer
Loving God, make us vessels of peace, instruments of unity and love. “Help us to build bridges with dialogue and encounter so we can all be one people always in peace.” Open our eyes to the bias we may hold that keeps us from encounter, dialogue, and building bridges with others. Open our ears to hear the struggles, needs, and desires of others, particularly those who see things differently than we do. Grant us courage and grace to reflect Your light as we seek to build bridges of understanding between hearts, homes, communities, and countries. Let Your will be done in us and through us. Amen.
Prepared by Tim Dewane, International Shalom Network Coordinator
Graphic taken from 25th General Chapter design by Joyelle Proot, SSND CP
