Global conflicts spark call for homegrown peace

KOHIMA, Nagaland (Indian Catholic News) — In a world deeply wounded by conflict and division, Bishop James Thoppil of Kohima has issued an ardent plea for peace, urging every Catholic to make an effort to heal wounded hearts and reconcile those who are divided.

Writing from Kohima, in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, the bishop emphasized that Christians across the globe cannot remain indifferent while countless lives continue to be affected by war and violence.

Bishop Thoppil said “even our own neighbourhoods and communities are not untouched by tensions, divisions and unrest”. As followers of Christ, the Prince of Peace, believers are “called not merely to desire peace but to become instruments of peace” in their daily lives, he said.

Pointing out that global turmoil often starts locally, the bishop noted that “war rarely begins on a battlefield”. Instead, conflict “often begins with an angry word, a wound that is allowed to fester, a prejudice that is nurtured, or forgiveness that is withheld”.

When the Risen Lord appeared to His frightened disciples, His very first words were “Peace be with you” (Jn 20:19), a sacred greeting that continues to resonate as a vital message for every Christian family and troubled nation today.

The family as the first school of peace

Bishop Thoppil stressed that long before formal peace treaties are signed between nations, peace must be restored within homes, touching the hearts of husbands, wives, parents, children, brothers, and sisters. Describing the family as the “Domestic Church,” a title highlighted by St. John Paul II, he noted that the home serves as the primary classroom where children learn forgiveness, respect, and unconditional love.

Before children learn about God’s unconditional love through catechism, “they encounter-or fail to encounter-that exact love through the relationships they experience at home”. A home filled with kindness, prayer, and mutual respect becomes “a place where trust grows naturally,” Bishop Thoppil said.

Conversely, a home dominated by “anger, resentment and violence can leave wounds that remain long after childhood”. The bishop noted that “the greatest inheritance parents can leave their children is therefore not wealth, property or even education, but the memory of a peaceful home—a home where they felt loved, accepted, respected and secure”.

Cultivating faith and prayer at home

To foster this environment, the bishop encouraged Catholic families to “maintain a Family Chapel—a simple, prayerful space in every home where the family can gather before God each day”.

This space “need not be elaborate,” but rather serves as a sacred place where families “pause amid the busy life to pray together, listen to God’s Word, give thanks, seek forgiveness and entrust one another to God’s care”.

Within such a space, “hearts are gradually transformed, relationships are strengthened and faith is nurtured”. Furthermore, the Family Chapel becomes a place where “the seeds of vocation are quietly sown”.

Vocations “do not spring merely from schools, seminaries or formation houses; they first grow within families where children learn to listen to God, to serve others and to recognize His call”.

The message highlights that “a family that prays together creates an atmosphere in which a young person can more readily hear God’s invitation to discipleship and service”.

A call to action and prayer

Concluding his pastoral message, published in Sharing, the diocesan quarterly bulletin, Bishop Thoppil reminded his community that “if peace truly begins at home, then every Christian family, by God’s grace, possesses the power to change the world—one act of love, one word of forgiveness, one prayer and one peaceful home at a time”.

He invited the faithful to “continue to pray fervently for peace in the world, in our country, in our state, in our communities and, above all, in our families”. He urged everyone to “ask the Lord to heal wounded hearts, reconcile those who are divided, comfort those who suffer and give wisdom and courage to those entrusted with the responsibility of building peace”.

Finally, Bishop Thoppil called on the faithful to adopt the prayer of St. Francis: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace”.

Read the message.