Believers in many parts of the world are preparing for the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which this year marks the 100th anniversary of an initiative to promote unity between Christians of different traditions.The week of prayer for 2008 is using the theme "Pray without ceasing", a Biblical verse from St Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 5:17).
"Although prayer is certainly at the heart of Christian life, praying together is not an easy exercise for churches within worldwide Christendom. Even today, common prayers are exceptional events rather than part of the daily life of the churches," notes the Rev. Kersten Storch, a German Lutheran pastor who works for the World Council of Churches.
The week offers local churches and congregations belonging to different Christian traditions, an opportunity to exchange prayers, or to join together for prayer for prayer and worship.
In many parts of the world the week is marked from 18 to 25 January, but in some places in the southern hemisphere, another time is used, such as the period of Pentecost.
Since the mid-1960s, Biblical and liturgical materials for the week have been published by the Vatican and the WCC's Commission on Faith and Order, in a joint effort by the Roman Catholic Church, the world's biggest, and the WCC, the biggest grouping of churches.
"This year's theme ... highlights the fact that Christians and churches cannot cease to pray for the unity of all," says Storch in an article distributed by the WCC. "The divisions, which are still a reality between and within the churches, do not simply follow denominational lines.
"They are often, at least to some extent, rooted in ethnic or national identities, in issues of race, social status, gender or sexuality, exclusion of people with disabilities or of those living with HIV/AIDS. "
In Geneva, the central event on 20 January will highlight what the meaning of prayer for unity in a world of conflict and distress. Dominican sister Sheila Flynn, from Ireland, will share her experience of working with people living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa. The Rev. Pierre Wallière, from the Nazarene Church in Haiti, will speak about his work with youth in a context of violence, and the reconciliation ministry of churches in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Pope Benedict XVI reiterated the call to "pray without ceasing", in remarks during his general audience at the Vatican on 16 January. "It is indeed necessary to pray without ceasing, insistently asking God for the great gift of unity among all the Lord's disciples," said the pontiff. "May the endless strength of the Holy Spirit move us to a sincere commitment to seek unity, so that all together we may profess that Jesus is the one Saviour of the world".
Each year, a local ecumenical group in a different part of the world is given responsibility to prepare the materials for the annual prayer week.
"It was the tradition of preparing together for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which led churches in Slovakia to the idea of preparing a special ecumenical celebration when the country entered into the European Union in 2004," Storch points out. "In Jerusalem - one of the places where the divisions within Christianity have often become visible in the most distressing ways - the impact of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on the life of the churches is confirmed by the fact that opportunities for common prayer multiply almost spontaneously."
The 100th anniversary marks the proposal in January 1908 by the Rev. Paul Wattson, then a North American Episcopal (Anglican) priest and Mother Lurana White, co-founders of a small religious community, to dedicate 18 to 25 January to prayers for Christian unity.
Wattson and White envisaged unity as a re-union of Christendom under the Pope's authority - they themselves later joined the Catholic Church - and the week was primarily Catholic in orientation.
In 1926, the Faith and Order movement, one of the church unity initiatives that led to the formation of the WCC in 1948, began publishing "Suggestions for an octave of prayer for Christian unity". In 1935, Abbé Paul Couturier, a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Lyon in France, worked to encourage prayers for unity between Catholics and non-Catholic Christians.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity cannot provide a solution to all the problems and divisions that face churches, notes Storch. But, she adds, "its celebration every year is a victory over divisions, because it expresses the unity which Christians do have in Christ."
:: "Praying together for Christian unity throughout a century of changes," by Kersten Storch
www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1722/praying-together-for-chri.html
:: The Geneva-based WCC has 347 mainly Anglican, Protestant and Orthodox churches in membership. Although the Catholic Church does not belong to the WCC, it has members on some of its bodies, including the Commission on Faith and Order.
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