2026 Annual Berkeley Rotary Peace Grove Award Ceremony

The Berkeley Rotary Club has selected His Holiness Pope Leo XIV as the recipient of the Annual Peace Grove Award. Annual Berkeley Rotary Peace Grove Award Ceremony Come join us at the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park for a time of celebration and recognition! The Annual Berkeley Rotary Peace Grove Award Ceremony honors individuals who have made significant contributions to promoting peace. This in-person event will feature inspiring speeches, music, and a delicious lunch. Let's come together to applaud those who have dedicated their time and efforts to creating a more peaceful world. The Berkeley Rotary Club has selected Pope Leo XIV to receive its 2026 Peace Award. Pope Leo has made peace a central pillar of his mission, championing an "unarmed and disarming" peace that must be practiced both in global diplomacy and daily life. [1, 2] As the spiritual leader of over 1.4 billion Catholics and a respected world leader for many more, the power of his influence on Peace, is profound. Fr. Xavier Lavagetto, O.P., Pastor at Holy Spirit Newman Parish (Berkeley) will accept the Award on behalf of Pope Leo. A redwood tree at the Rotary International Peace Grove in Tilden Park will be dedicated in his honor, and acknowledged by a plate placed at the site. In 1955, the Berkeley Rotary Club established the International Peace Grove in Tilden Regional Park by planting one hundred Giant Sequoia seedlings close to the site of a former missile base.