On the first anniversary of Hamas' attack on Israel, ”to invoke from the intercession of Most Holy Mary the gift of peace,” Pope Francis announced that on Sunday, October 6, he will go to the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome to pray the Rosary and has called for Monday, October 7, to be “a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the world.”

The movement adheres to the Holy Father's appeal. Davide Prosperi, President of the Fraternity of CL, has stated that “at this historical juncture, marked by seemingly unresolvable conflicts and hatreds, we too address, together with the Pope and the whole Church, a ‘heartfelt plea’ to Mary, Queen of Peace, that she may obtain from God what seems to be impossible for man.”

As Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, pointed out, we all have “the duty to commit ourselves to peace, first by preserving our hearts from all feelings of hatred, and instead cherishing the desire for good for everyone.”

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A friend of the movement, after sharing photos of the CL community's Beginning Day in Bethlehem with several friends, received this message, “Either you are crazy or Jesus can be the true hope and friendship of a life.” “In a Holy Land marked by the impossibility of peaceful coexistence,” Prosperi commented, “the presence of the Christian community is a sign of contradiction ‘always at the service of humanity in order to announce the joy of the Gospel,' as Pope Francis reminds us. That is why we intend to join him in prayer.”

CL communities are invited to participate and get involved in the initiatives that will be proposed in parishes and dioceses.