Sr. Sheila Kinsey doesn’t talk about peace as though it were something abstract. For her, peace has dirt under its fingernails, roots in the ground, and a heartbeat in the people who tend it.
“When I feel overwhelmed with all the suffering being experienced by so many people in conflict, by the devastation of the land, and misuse of resources, I am comforted by the guidance of Pope Francis when he wrote: ‘Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage…’”
Sr. Sheila Kinsey presented a letter from the workshop participants in the Democratic Republic of Congo to Pope Francis.
Smile First. Start Small.
Sr. Sheila has carried many responsibilities over the years: teacher, shelter director for women and children, coordinator of the Sowing Hope for the Planet project, Executive Co-Secretary for the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Commission in Rome, and now, representative of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative (CNI).
Through all these roles, one thread runs steady: peace. Not peace as the mere absence of conflict, but peace as a way of life lived in right relationship with one another and with the Earth.
Sometimes it begins in ways that are simple: a smile offered to a stranger, a kind word that lifts a spirit. For Sr. Sheila, these gestures are already part of Peace with Creation.
That vision—Peace with Creation—is the theme of the 2025 Season of Creation, yet she has been embodying it for decades: from Congolese communities confronting the exploitation of their land, to Kenyan youth planting and sharing crops in solidarity, to Ugandan theologians and pastoral workers leading circles of truth and compassion for healing.
Work together. Across borders.
This vision of Peace with Creation is not theoretical for Sr. Sheila. She has seen it take root in places scarred by poverty and violence.
“Each country expressed their resilience in facing the devastating challenges of poverty in a myriad of ways through the values of nonviolence,” she recalls. “In the Democratic Republic of Congo, mining exploitation was confronted by skill training to collect evidence of damage done to the environment.”
“In Uganda,” she continues, “theologians, psychologists, pastoral personnel, and grassroots persons are pursuing a process called Truth and Compassion: A Spiritual Journey Facing the Challenges of Woundedness and Healing. Bethany Land Institute is revitalizing the land through reforestation, replenishment of the soil, and agricultural education. South Sudan is recognizing the personal and social relationships that affect conflicts and projects for revitalizing environmental care.”
New life taking root at the Bethany Land Institute in Uganda.
For Sr. Sheila, these examples are signs that Peace with Creation is already alive in communities. They are not waiting for ideal conditions; they are responding with what they have, grounding nonviolence in everyday acts of healing, resilience, and ecological care.
Say “Peace and All Good.” And Mean It.
Sr. Sheila is Franciscan, and that lens shapes everything. She recalls how St. Francis once greeted people with the words “peace and all good”. They weren’t throwaway words, she insists:
“Assisi during the time of St. Francis was often in war with neighboring Perugia. He knew peace was much more than the absence of war. When he spoke ‘peace and all good’ to the people, these were very serious words. He was calling on the citizens to develop the peace in their hearts so that it could be an effective attitude for change in reaching out to others and in care of all creation”.
A statue of St. Francis holding a dove at the Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chania, Greece.
That inner peace, she adds, is inseparable from ecology: “Inner peace is closely related to care for ecology and for the common good lived out authentically.”
The timing is poignant. As the Church prepares to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis on October 4, Sr. Sheila’s words are a reminder that his legacy is alive not only in prayers and canticles, but in every act of care for the Earth.
Tools for solidarity
What communities do with their own hands must be supported by networks that allow them to share, learn, and act together.
That is where tools like the Laudato Si’ Action Platform come in. “Our presence on the internet is an incredible tool to spread information on the seven goals: cry of the earth, cry of the poor, ecological economics, adoption of sustainable lifestyles, ecological education, ecological spirituality, and community resilience. The interconnectedness of the work is inspiring and engages others in specific ways,” she says.
“Having this information so readily available offers participants opportunities to work together in spite of geographical differences, to meet over specific issues, and to determine advocacy issues.”
Bless. Walk. Give Thanks.
Sr. Sheila does not end with theory. She ends with a blessing: spoken not from a desk in Rome, but from the long pilgrimage she has walked beside the poor, beside women in shelters, beside creation itself.
Blessing On the Journey of Peace with Creation
May God bless you on your journey of peace with creation. We are grateful for all the seeds sown; they have fallen to the ground. Many are blossoming. In their growth they are bearing the fruit of love and compassion.
Let us pray in solidarity that we actualize “God’s loving plan in which every creature has its own value and significance.” (Laudato Si’ 76)
Bless those who are intent on taking contemplative time to appreciate the giftedness of God’s presence in other persons, in nature, and all of creation.
Bless those whose care for the land includes the replenishment and revitalization of our forests.
Bless those who care for our vegetation using natural fertilizers and pesticides that protect the plants and the livelihood and health of persons living in the area.
Bless those who are able to advocate for their personal and social rights with mining companies and other exploitative practices.
Bless those that consider the importance of maintaining the precious biodiversity of our world.
Bless those whose produce from the land is shared with those in need.
And bless those who understand the importance of solidarity with one another as we coordinate our global care for our common home.
Amen.