Your Pre-Christmas Mission: Pope Leo’s Call for a “Peace Pact”
In a direct and timely challenge, Pope Leo has issued a personal pre-Christmas mission to the young: actively make peace with someone close to you before the holiday. Speaking to young members of Italian Catholic Action amid the Vatican’s global display of nativity scenes, the Pontiff framed peace not as a distant ideal but as a practical project of daily life. He urged them to build “harmony and respect” in everyday relationships—at home, in parishes, and with schoolmates—emphasizing that true peace is a “gift that can truly only be found in the heart.” This call to action transforms the Advent season from one of passive waiting into an active pilgrimage of reconciliation, positioning each young person as a direct “witness of Jesus” through the courageous, humble gesture of mending a frayed relationship.
To inspire this campaign of personal diplomacy, Pope Leo pointed to modern millennial examples, specifically the first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis, and the joyful service of Pier Giorgio Frassati. By following their lead in using one’s gifts—whether in digital spaces like Acutis or in humble service to the poor like Frassati—the Pope assured the youth their “proclamation of peace will be radiant.” He connected this mission to the very heart of the Christmas story, encouraging them to be like the angels of the Nativity who proclaimed glory and peace. Thus, the invitation is clear: the most meaningful Christmas preparation isn’t found in busy shopping, but in the liberating work of extending a hand, healing a rift, and becoming, like their saintly peers, truly “free and happy” agents of grace.
