Buddhist monks on a "Walk for Peace" are completing the Georgia leg of their route from Texas to Washington, D.C. Take a look back at their stops.

A group of Buddhist monks is persevering in their peace walk across much of the U.S. even after two participants were injured when a truck hit their escort vehicle.

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday urged Catholics to pray for peace, “first, among nations bloodied by conflict and suffering,” and also “within our homes, in families wounded by violence or pain,” during the Angelus address on the first day of 2026.

Organizers said the monks, who are on Day 73 of their Walk for Peace, will rest overnight in McCormick County.

ROME -- ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV opened 2026 on Thursday with a plea for peace, singling out in particular countries “bloodied by conflict” and families wounded by violence.

The Buddhist monks who are taking part in a 120+ day Walk for Peace across part of the United States have changed their route and will not come through the Upstate.

At a Mass for the World Day of Peace, Dublin Archbishop Dermot Farrell called upon Ireland’s politicians to show leadership in promoting peace.

On Nov. 11, Phra-Ajarnh Maha Dam Phommasan was walking for peace with a group of other Buddhist monks on the side of the road about 30 miles east of Houston, Texas, when a car slammed into the monks’ escort vehicle, which then hit Phommasan.

The group started their 2,300-mile journey in Fort Worth, Texas, on Oct. 26, and is traveling through 10 states en route to Washington, D.C.

World peace is possible because peace and war are human institutions, not forces of nature. Even the most deeply ingrained institutions can be reformed. The abolition of slavery was considered impossible until it was achieved.