To you, Creator of nature and humanity,
of truth and beauty, I pray:
Hear my voice,
for it is the voice
of the victims of all wars and violence
among individuals and nations.
Hear my voice,
for it is the voice
of all children who suffer and who will suffer
when people put their faith in weapons and war.
Hear my voice
when I beg you to instil
into the hearts of all human beings
the vision of peace,
the strength of justice
and the joy of fellowship.
Hear my voice,
for I speak for the multitudes
in every country and in every period of history
who do not want war
and are ready to walk the road of peace.
Hear my voice
and grant insight and strength
so that we may always respond
to hatred with love,
to injustice with total dedication to justice,
to need with the sharing of self,
to war with peace.
O God, hear my voice,
and grant to the world your everlasting peace.
(Pope John Paul II at Hiroshima, Japan, 1981)
