Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

Blessed are they “who guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Is. 1:16; Lk. 1:19)

During the liturgical season of Advent, the Church places before us the great and wondrous gift of the Incarnation, the birth of the Prince of Peace two thousand years ago. Today, in the land of Jesus’ birth, we sadly witness failures in the peace process as well as tragic sufferings and deaths of the people living in the region.

In solidarity with all the suffering peoples of the Middle East, I join my fellow United States bishops in asking the faithful to pray from the beginning of Advent until Epiphany for peace in the Holy Land. With them, I also recommend voluntarily fasting and abstinence on Fridays during the same period in accord with the bishops’ pastoral letter, The Challenge of Peace (1983).

May we in the Archdiocese unite with all those in our city and in the sacred land of the Bible who pray that “justice and peace may embrace.” (Ps. 85)

Sincerely in Christ,

Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago