Annual messages

Letter 2026

What are you seeking?

Brother Matthew

So many people are looking for meaning in their lives. They are searching for something greater than the easy promises that fill our screens so much of the time. Are humans not created for a real purpose? What can enable us to discover this? When we try to live from the trusting of faith we sometimes ask ourselves: What does God want of me? We have so many desires. Which is the path I can walk with God? During the past year, we have received visits at Taizé from young people from Ukraine, Palestine, Lebanon, Nicaragua, Myanmar and other places where war and conflict are rife. Their faith and their longing for just and lasting peace have been an inspiration to us. We have also heard the testimonies of people working in Gaza or with family living there. We can see the pain of those whose loved ones have been held hostage and hear the cries of those seeking justice under oppressive regimes.

Letter 2025

Hope beyond all hope

Brother Matthew

Listening to young people in Taizé and elsewhere*, many of whom are confronted with harsh realities in their everyday life, I ask myself how they find the strength to carry on. The question becomes even more pressing when they are living in war zones. Where do their resilience and perseverance in seemingly impossible situations come from? It became clear to me, as I listened, that trust in God enables people of faith to nurture a hope. And through the Resurrection of Jesus, a certainty grows that death will not have the last word.

Letter 2024

Journeying Together

Brother Matthew

During the past 18 months, our Taizé Community has been on an adventure of faith. We were preparing a “Gathering of the People of God” called “Together”* with partners from movements, communities and organisations from many Christian Churches. An intuition expressed by Brother Alois* at the opening of the Synod on Synodality in the Catholic Church, the preparation of “Together” led us to intensify our listening to others, seeking the gifts present in different Church groups, as well as among people of goodwill in society.