This year, too, scouts, guides and the members of other youth organisations throughout Europe and beyond have lit a candle for peace and international understanding with the International Peace Light. Lit by a child in the Nativity Grotto, the light is flown to Vienna and passed on from there to many other countries in the world.

“Courage for peace” is the motto for this year’s Peace Light initiative. It was launched by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) in 1986 and has since then brought joy to many people in the time leading up to Christmas. To let the Peace Light burn throughout the Christmas period, it can be lit in a hurricane lamp – an apt image for the protection of the light in a time of brittle peace in many parts of the world.