The New Year is often a time when we review the past one and look forward to the next, and the hope of brighter, warmer and longer days. On the Feast of the Epiphany, 6 January, I always feel that the days are lengthening minute by minute. This brings new hope into my heart. It is also the day when Christ is revealed as the Light of the Nations.

On New Year’s Day, the Pope writes to the Church and the world about building greater peace between peoples. Each day on television we see the suffering caused by war and conflict in the world: in Ukraine and the Holy Land, and nearer to home, the battles between neighbours or the rejection of the stranger in our midst because of racism or fear. We live in a violent world. This year, Pope Leo XVI develops the theme “Peace be with you all: towards an unarmed and disarming peace”. He continues the message he proclaimed on the first day of his pontificate, inviting us to reject the logic of violence and war and to embrace an authentic peace based on love and justice. He calls us to place at the centre of our lives the dignity of every woman and man who is a gift of God. He writes, “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.”

Living in this way is hard and calls for the changing of hearts and minds as well as inviting us to live simply and tread gently upon the earth. Everything and everybody are gifts from God. The blessings of the earth are for all people.

It is easy to write of peace. It is difficult to live it. Notice what happens when someone cuts across you, barges into a queue, or cuts you up driving. We react, sometimes quite angrily and violently in word or gesture. Then we need to ask for God’s grace, confess our sins and pray that we will bring the gift of peace to others in a way of life that rejects every form of violence. This is our focus for Peace Sunday on 18 January.

Peace begins at home in the relationships we build and the way we listen, love, and care for one another. Peace across our archdiocese depends upon recognising the good and dignity of every woman and man, each created in the image of God. Late last year, Churches Together in the Merseyside Region marked the 40th anniversary of the report ‘Faith in the City’. We issued a manifesto calling for dignity for all people and exploring the ways we can build a common home built on truth and justice. Forty years on, the need is still great and urgent. I urge you in parishes and deaneries to always ask the question “how do I become a peacebuilder? How do we serve the poorest and weakest in our midst?” These questions will keep us focused and grounded in the reality of life and close to Christ.

Peace be with you all in this New Year of 2026.

Archbishop John Sherrington
Archbishop of Liverpool