To mark the United Nations International Day of Peace on Monday, September 21, the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica will host “Sounds of Loss.” The sound installation, conceived by German filmmaker Philip Gröning, aims to draw attention to the human lives lost in wars through a series of irregular sounds, such as ticking and thuds.

The initiative is supported by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the Dicastery for Communication, and the Fabbrica di San Pietro. The installation consists of 1,096 individually recorded sounds, played at irregular intervals over the course of 49 hours.

According to the project, each sound represents a person killed in war during that period. Based on 2026 statistics cited by the project, a sound is played on average every 2.62 minutes.

LISTEN TO THE SOUND INSTALLATION “SOUND OF LOSS” HERE