International meeting for peace in Assisi: More than words, concrete action

By Kielce Gussie – Assisi Forty years after the historic Spirit of Assisi meeting, where Pope St. John Paul II stressed that “peace is a value with no frontiers,” the city of St. Francis has once again become a place of dialogue between people of different cultures, languages, and faiths. [ Photo Embed: The event brings people and leaders of different religions together in Assisi] The International Meeting for Peace with the theme Unarmed and Disarming Peace, inspired by Pope Leo XIV’s message for the World Day of Peace 2026, opened in the afternoon of October 25. One of the speakers at the opening assembly was Hala AlKarib, the regional director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, which works to document and expose human rights abuses.

Speaking to Vatican News on the sidelines of the meeting, she stressed how important the work of building peace is in a “global context that is extremely hostile and enabling violence to happen.” Violence is spilling over Ms. Alkarib expressed her hope that this international meeting has shone a light on the issues of violence and conflict around the world. Specifically in Sudan, the situation is dire as more than 250,000 civilians have been killed in the four years since the conflict began. Homes, churches, mosques, and