WCC & Rome Promote Week of Christian Unity

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

At least once a year, many Christians become aware of the great diversity of ways of adoring God. Hearts are touched, and people realize that their neighbours' ways are not so strange.

The event that touches off this special experience is something called the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Traditionally celebrated between 18-25 January (in the northern hemisphere) or at Pentecost (in the southern hemisphere), the Week of Prayer enters into congregations and parishes all over the world. Pulpits are exchanged, and special ecumenical worship services are arranged.

Ecumenical partners in a particular region are asked to prepare a basic text on a biblical theme. Then an international group with WCC-sponsored (Protestant and Orthodox) and Roman Catholic participants edits this text and ensures that it is linked with the search for the unity of the church.

The text is jointly published by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and WCC, through the WCC's Commission on Faith and Order, which also accompanies the entire production process of the text. The final material is sent to member churches and Roman Catholic dioceses, and they are invited to translate the text and contextualize it for their own use.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity celebrates beginnings of modern ecumenical movement [Episcopal News Service]

The Week of Prayer was first realized in 1908 at Graymoor in Garrison, New York, when the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement held the first Church Unity Octave.

Each year the Friars and Sisters of the Atonement around the world join with Christians of every denomination as they pray for Christian unity during the Week of Prayer.

In 2008, Christians around the world observed an important ecumenical milestone as the annual Week of Prayer celebrated 100 years of international events that recognize the importance of prayer and promote unity between different Christian traditions.

See the Vatican's webpage dedicated to the World Council of Churches here.