New Book by Pope Leo XIV Highlights His Call for Peace and Unity

Beginning August 27, a new book by Pope Leo XIV titled “Let There Be Peace! Words to the Church and to the World” will be available in bookstores. Published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana in Italian, English, and Spanish, the 160-page volume gathers the first addresses of the newly elected Pope, offering a window into the spirituality and priorities of his pontificate.

According to Zenit, Leo XIV’s earliest messages center on his appeal for an “unarmed and disarming” peace, echoing the testimony of Christian de Chergé, Prior of Tibhirine in Algeria. Significantly, May 8, the day of Cardinal Robert Prevost’s election as Pope, coincided with the liturgical memorial of the Algerian martyrs.

From the outset, the American pontiff has underlined three guiding themes: the primacy of God, communion in the Church, and the pursuit of peace. He reminded the faithful that the greatest task of Church leaders is “to disappear so that Christ may remain, to become small so that He may be known and glorified.” His heartfelt wish, he said, is “a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which would become leaven for a reconciled world.”

The Pope also stressed that peace must begin on a personal level: “Peace begins with each one of us: with the way we look at others, listen to others, and speak of others.”

As Zenit notes, the collection allows readers to encounter Pope Leo XIV through his own words, tracing his journey from Chicago, where Robert Francis Prevost was born in 1955, through his vocation as an Augustinian, his leadership roles in Peru and the Vatican, to his election as the 267th Successor of Peter on May 8, 2025.