Peace Pole encourages Peace on Earth in Hope, Scituate, Massachusetts, USA
July 11, 2025
Scituate Rotary Club members say they are committed to sharing peace across the state with their planned second installation of a Peace Pole at the Hope Library on July 12 at 1 p.m.
A Peace Pole is a monolith with the universal message of “May Peace Prevail On Earth” in multiple languages around the Peace Pole. The Rotary Club chose to install the Peace Pole at the library to spread cheer and peace across Scituate, said Jennifer Huff of the Scituate Rotary Farmers Market.
|May Peace Prevail on Earth, in several languages. Now, the Rotary Club is unveiling
a second Peace Pole in Hope.
The languages on the new Peac Pole include Narragansett, Twi, Swahili, Yoruba, Nepali, Portuguese, and Vietnamese.
The July 12 unveiling ceremony will feature people from the community who speak each of the languages to read the message inscribed on the Peace Pole, said Huff. Each person will share a brief quote or blessing related to peace in their respective language, accompanied by its English translation, Huff said.
“The ceremony will be concise yet impactful,” she said.
There will be refreshments and an opportunity to connect with fellow members of the community following the ceremony.
The Peace Pole will be located at the Hope Library, 374 North Road. Another Peace Pole is located at the Rotary Playground on Battey Meetinghouse Road, Huff said. Ideally, Huff said the Rotary Club hopes to put a Peace Pole in every community the club serves, including Foster and Gloucester.
The Peace Pole Project started in Japan by Masahisa Goi, who dedicated his life to spreading the message: May Peace Prevail on Earth.
Affected by the destruction caused by World War II and the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Goi focused on spreading peace. In a moment of inspiration and prayer in 1955, the message to assist in world peace came to Goi.
Since Goi authored the universal peace message, people across Japan began spreading the message, as well. Soon after, Peace Poles inscribed with the message in various languages began appearing throughout Japan.
The project first came to America during the World Peace Prayer Society offices in San Francisco and New York in 1986, the International Year of Peace.
Now, Peace Poles are one of the most recognized international monuments to peace in the world, with more than 200,000 Peace Poles standing in almost every country. Each Peace Pole serves as reminders of the collective commitment to peace, according to the Scituate Rotary Club.
By JACQUELYN MOOREHEAD Valley Breeze & Observer Staff Writer jackie@valleybreeze.com