Assisi peace meeting opens with 384 faith leaders, 40 years after John Paul II's gathering
Illustration: Press Pass USAThe international interreligious peace meeting "Unarmed and Disarming Peace" opened Sunday in Assisi, bringing together 384 representatives of religions, cultures and institutions from 53 countries — 40 years after St. John Paul II convened the historic World Day of Prayer for Peace in the same city.
Organized by the Community of Sant'Egidio, the October 25–27 gathering opened with an assembly at UmbriaFiere in Bastia Umbra. Its program includes 155 speakers across 24 thematic forums on armed conflict, disarmament, migration, poverty, young people and the contribution of religious communities to peacebuilding.
Pope Leo XIV will not attend the closing ceremony on Tuesday, October 27, as originally planned. The Holy See Press Office announced Friday that his doctors advised against the planned helicopter journey as a precaution following the October 13 surgery that removed the lower lobe of his right lung. A scheduled follow-up chest X-ray confirmed his postoperative recovery is progressing very well, and the pope will instead send a message expressing his closeness to the organizers and participants.
The 1986 gathering in Assisi, the hometown of St. Francis, brought leaders of the world's religions together to pray for peace at a time of deep international tension — and gave rise to what became known as the "Spirit of Assisi," carried on by Sant'Egidio through annual meetings across Europe and beyond.
Sources: Community of Sant'Egidio; Catholic Online News (Oct 2026); Holy See Press Office via Reuters (Oct 23, 2026).
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