Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - From the 18 to 25 January we celebrate the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which marks its 100th anniversary in 2008. The theme chosen for reflection this year are St Paul's words to the people of Thessalonica: "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5,17), to underline the essential role of prayer in the Christian community to help the faithful grow in their relationship with Christ and among themselves. “A call I gladly make my own and address to the whole Church” said the Holy Father Benedict XVI at his general audience on Wednesday 16 January. “Yes it is necessary to pray incessantly asking God with insistence for the great gift of unity among all the Lord's disciples. May the inexhaustible power of the Holy Spirit lead us to make sincere efforts to promote unity, so that all together we may profess that Jesus is the only Saviour of the world.”
In 1908, a hundred years ago, Fr Paul Wattson, an Episcopalian minister (American Anglican), co-founder of the Society of Atonement Graymoor (Garrison, New York) introduced an “Octave of prayer for Christian unity”, celebrated for the first time 18 to 25 January 1908. When the Society of Atonement was welcomed into the Catholic Church within the Franciscan family in 1909, Pope Pius X gave the Octave his blessing. The Octave soon began to spread in the Catholic Church and in parts of the Anglican communion. In 1930 Abbot Paul Couturier of Lyons (France), promoted the Octave and gave it new direction: he kept the dates 18-25 January but changed the name to the “Universal Week of Prayer for Christian Unity”. In 1968 for the first time the material for the Week was prepared jointly by the Commission of Faith and Constitution Fede (World Council of Churches) and the Secretariat for the Promotion of Unity among Christians (Catholic Church).
In Rome, on the eve of the Year of St Paul called by Pope Benedict XVI, once again this year the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will be celebrated with particular solemnity at the Papal Basilica of St Paul's outside the Walls, where St Paul is buried. Every afternoon from 18 - 25 January there will be special Vespers and Mass organised by the Benedictine community with the participation of various religious institutes and congregations. The programme includes prayers with the All Saints Anglican community in Rome (18 January, 6pm) and the Lutheran community (23 January, 6pm). On Wednesday 25 January, the feast of the Conversion of St Paul at 10-30am the Abbot of St Paul's, Abbot Edmund Power OSB, will preside a solemn Mass. At 5.30 in the evening solemn Vespers presided by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will conclude this years celebration for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 18/1/2005; righe 33, parole 465)
