PRAYER:

 

Peaceful God,
We come to you from the midst of a broken world where nations raise weapons against nations and mothers and children are the innocent victims of violence.
We cry out for peace!

Wise God,
Share your wisdom with the leaders of the world who continue to stockpile dangerous weapons, giving other countries the incentive to do the same, despite their commitment to the Nuclear-Non-Proliferation Treaty. We pray for the ability to overcome our brokenness, cooperating, instead of competing, across borders and boundaries.
We cry out for peace!

God of Comfort,
It is hard to believe that our own country has refused to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, weakening its legitimacy and making our world less safe.
We cry out for peace!

Tender God, Lover of Children,
It is incomprehensible to us that cluster munitions are still acceptable for use in war, despite the terror they wreak upon unsuspecting children and other civilians during war and for many years afterwards.
We cry out for peace!

Healing God,
So many communities have been left in ruins as a result of the destruction of war. We pray for the healing and rebuilding of communities torn apart by war and violence.
We cry out for peace!

God, Father and Mother of this world, we pray that you would inspire us to create a peaceful world. Help us call our leaders to accountability and to remind them that more weapons and war do not bring peace. Make us a peaceful people in a peaceful world. Amen.

 

Source: Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

 

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On August 6, 2025 we were joined by hundreds of people in prayer, led by women religious, to honor the victims of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and to pray for a world free of nuclear weapons.  View a recording of the prayer service below:

 

 

RESOURCES:

 

Test your knowledge of nuclear weapons in the Franciscan Peace Center’s Nuclear Weapons Quiz.

 

 

Win Without War calls on us to learn about and take action to support the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). Read the stories of survivors and watch films about the impact of nuclear weapons testing on Downwinders, U.S. troops, and the Navajo Nation.

 

The Franciscan Action Network invites us to learn about actions for peace and nonviolence in “Ukraine: Peacebuilding, Nonviolent Resistance, Unarmed Civilian Protection.” Watch this webinar and read more about the Nonviolent Peaceforce and the Just Peace Framework.

 

Visit the National Priorities Project to learn about the Federal Budget and how military spending affects you.

 

For more information about organizations dedicated to nuclear disarmament and an end to war, click here.

 

TAKE ACTION: Limit the President's Ability to Launch Nuclear Weapons

Presidents have sole authority to launch nuclear weapons. This is too dangerous an authority to be held by one person. No one person should be allowed to decide to end life on the planet as we know it, but that’s exactly what current U.S. law allows for. Win Without War urges us to tell Congress to put immediate limits on the president's authority to start a nuclear war.  TAKE ACTION

 

TAKE ACTION: Support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

In January, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved their iconic Doomsday Clock ahead to 90 seconds before midnight, the closest it's ever come to symbolic global apocalypse. Back from the Brink urges us to tell our representatives to co-sponsor H. Res 77, a resolution that calls on the United States to embrace the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and to adopt Back from the Brink's common sense policies for preventing nuclear war. TAKE ACTION

 

TAKE ACTION: Urge Peacebuilding in Ukraine

The catastrophic war in Ukraine continues to escalate and help is needed to advocate for diplomatic negotiations and other peacebuilding practices to end the war and lean into a just peace. U.S. Congressional voices continue to have an important impact on U.S. strategy and the war. Franciscan Action Network urges us to tell Congress to speak publicly and to President Biden about promoting diplomatic negotiations and other proven peacebuilding practices.  TAKE ACTION