Search for Peace and Pursue It
RB Prol, Ps 34,14

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This year’s Congress of Abbots did not have an official theme, but the issues of war and peace were ever present. We heard testimonies from afflicted communities in war-torn countries, from Ucraine, the Holy Land and Burkina Faso. During our encounter with Pope Francis, he said repeatedly “war is defeat”. At our Montecassino pilgrimage, the wanton destruction of this place 80 years ago resonated as well as Paul VI’s apostolic letter of 1964 on St Benedict with the title “Pacis Nuntius” – the Messenger of Peace.

When we had an audience with Pope Francis, who knows a thing or two about religious life, he told us Benedictines: “peace is your thing”. And he added: “But start inside the monasteries!”

Starting inside the monasteries

The coming Holy Year is a chance to focus on our own peace: let us look at our houses as places where peace can grow. We want to invite our communities to face up to internal tensions, to confront conflicts and old blockades, and to engage in rituals of forgiveness and reconciliation.

One of the messages of Saint Benedict is: reconciliation and living together across dividing lines. The Benedictine tradition emphasizes the equality of fellow monastics while respecting their diversity. This is a powerful tool of peace.

Radiate outwards

Can we pass on this diversity in living together as a message of peace during the Holy Year?

Our worldwide Benedictine presence and our concern for peace can come together in this Holy Year with a "Benedictine prayer for peace around the globe". We hope that monasteries can take turns so that each community is part of this Benedictine prayer chain, for example through weekly intercessions or moments of prayer on an indicated day and time.

During the Congress, representatives of the Holy See invited us to rediscover our old role as ecumenical bridge-builders, 100 years after Pope Pius XI first gave us this task. Partnerships between Orthodox monasteries and our Benedictine communities can become a bridge across the chasm that has opened between East and West in recent times.

Silence, which is the natural attitude of a monk, can be a space for meeting brothers and sisters of other faiths and religions. There are places – also digital ones – where ‘silence for peace’ is practised by Christians in a spirit of ecumenical and interreligious dialog.

Another Benedictine hallmark is hospitality. When we allow others to share in our prayer, silence and daily rhythm, we help them to find peace.

Saint Benedict wants his disciples to “seek peace and to pursue it”. This is an encouragement to ‘step outside our own comfort zone’. When we face challenges or embark on new projects, we begin a way of transformation which can lead us to spiritual renewal.

When the wars in Ucraine and the Holy Land began, many Benedictine monasteries opened up and took in refugees. We are very grateful for this solidarity. Gratitude is a cornerstone of peacebuilding: gratitude to God and to our brothers and sisters for every gift received and given. Deep-seated gratitude has healing power and strengthens the process of reconciliation and peace. We encourage our communities to establish rituals to express gratitude on the path to peace.

We hope that this humble message of peace is received as an invitation to all our monastic brothers and sisters to become actively involved in peacebuilding. Let us be creative and find ways to build peace in our communities and for our world. And let us share across our Confederation how we do it: We want to be a truly peace-building worldwide family.

Abbot Primate Jeremias Schröder OSB
and more than 200 participants of the 2024 Congress of Abbots