Pope Leo has released his first book

The Vatican has announced the publication of the first book by Pope Leo XIV, a collection of his earliest addresses since becoming Pope.

Compiled under the title Let There Be Peace! Words to the Church and to the World, the 160-page volume, released by Libreria Editrice Vaticana and priced at €15, will be available from 27 August in Italian, English and Spanish.

The book, according to Vatican Publishing, contains the complete collection of Pope Leo's speeches during the first weeks of his pontificate, "through which we can better understand the pontiff from his own words”.

It also highlights the book's central theme of the need for peace, a call the Pope first made immediately after his election on 8 May, when he greeted crowds in St Peter’s Square with the words:

“Peace be with you all! Dearest brothers and sisters! This is the first greeting of the risen Christ, the Good Shepherd, who gave his life for the flock of God. I too would like this greeting of peace to reach your hearts and to your families and all people, wherever they may be, to all nations, to the whole earth. Peace be with you!

"This is the peace of the risen Christ, an unarmed peace, a disarming, humble, and persevering peace, which comes from God, from God who loves us all unconditionally.”

It has been noted that the date of Pope Leo XIV’s election coincided with the liturgical memorial of the martyrs of Algeria, whose witness of forgiveness and reconciliation are reported to have influenced the future Pope. Among his other inspirations is Christian de Chergé, Prior of Tibhirine, who wrote of the peace born of sacrifice and trust in God.

The Vatican has described the Pope’s priorities for the Catholic Church, as expressed in the book, being “the primacy of God, communion among the faithful, and the pursuit of peace”, reports ACI Prensa.

The Pope is said to have described how the Church's authority must always exist alongside self-effacement, so that those in office must, in the Pope’s words, “disappear so that Christ may remain", and " make oneself small so that He may be known and glorified”.

In the very first pages of the book the pontiff touches on this message of peace, self-effacement and reconciliation, describing that “our first great desire” is “a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which would become leaven for a reconciled world”.

Such appeals, Pope Leo emphasises, extend beyond political leaders to each individual heart, with the pontiff insisting that “peace begins with each one of us: with the way we look at others, listen to others, and speak of others”.

The release of the book precedes the 2026 World Day of Peace.

Photo: Pope Leo XIV poses for a photo with a family during the general audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, 27 August 2025. (Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images.)

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