Rome (Italy). On 14 August 2025, the eve of the feast of the Assumption of Mary, the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) proposes a Day of prayer and fasting for peace, invoking the intercession of the Mother of God, Our Lady of Peace, to whom all religious communities and those who wish to join are invited.
In a world torn apart by war and inhumanity—in Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine, Myanmar, Syria, Haiti, and so many other countries wounded by visible and invisible conflicts—we cannot remain silent spectators. Every day we see faces marked by pain, destroyed lives, peoples deprived of dignity and peace, especially women and children, is the motivation expressed by the Communication.
As women of hope , rooted in faith and immersed in the wounds of our time, we feel the profound need to raise our voices and unite our hearts.
As women at the frontiers , walking alongside those who suffer, listening to the cry of the poor and of the earth, we have a responsibility to build communion, protect life, and demand justice.
For this reason, we invite you, in a spirit of communion and evangelical co-responsibility, to join together in a collective act of prayer, discernment, and witness , so that peace is not only hoped for, but built.
Let us entrust ourselves to her, so that she may respond with tenderness to the cries of the people and teach us how to be a humble and prophetic presence in places of suffering.
In particular, the religious are invited to:
- Promote moments of prayer and reflection on the Wordwithin your communities, in light of the current suffering in the world, allowing ourselves to be transformed internally.
- Engage with civil and ecclesial authoritiesin your respective countries, urging them to open paths of reconciliation, disarmament, defense of human rights, and protection of victims.
- Support concrete acts of global solidarity, through networks of humanitarian aid, hospitality, and prophetic witness for the most affected peoples.
“As women who keep watch in the night , we continue to believe that even in the darkest hour a light can still shine: the light of the Gospel, of justice, and of brotherhood. Together we invoke the God of peace , so that we may become instruments of his love, and we entrust this journey to the intercession of Mary, our Mother of hope.
To accompany this moment, the UISG makes available a Prayer to Mary, Mother of Peace available in various languages.
Pope Leo XIV, in his discourses, does not miss the opportunity to make an appeal for peace, invoking the help of Mary, “She will help us, the Morning Star, to be in a world marked by so many divisions, ‘sentinels’ of mercy and peace” (Angelus 10 August 2025) and the commitment of all, “I hope that in the contemporary world, marked by strong tensions and bloody conflicts, illusory security based on the threat of mutual destruction may give way to the tools of justice, the practice of dialogue, trust in fraternity” (General Audience 6 August 2025).
