Europe in prayer

On January 18 (until January 25), celebrations for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity commenced throughout Europe. This year marks the 100th anniversary since its foundation in 1908 by Father Paul Wattson. This year’s topic is Saint Paul’s call to the Thessalonians, “Pray, without ceasing”. The event is always an opportunity to draw a balance of the developments made so far and for a exhaustive meetings between communities. Holy See. “The Church of Rome is more and more becoming the point of reference of the path leading to the unity of all Christians”; with the Orthodox in particular, we are witnessing “the prime of relations”. These words were spoken by Cardinal Walter Kasper , prefect of the Pontifical Council for Dialogue between Christians, who described to Italian news agency ANSA the progress of ecumenism on the occasion of the beginning of the Week of Prayer. “The spirit of Ravenna’, born with the document issued past October, well defines our relationship with the Orthodox. It is marked by friendship and mutual esteem”. “Present problems with the Protestants are related to priestly ministry and apostolic succession. We reached an agreement over the doctrine of justification, while the Eucharist and its relationship with the sacrament of Order remains the object of debate”. Lastly, the dialogue with Anglicans which – the Cardinal explained – is “at a standstill”, due to internal divisions within the Anglican community after women’s ordination and that of a homosexual American priest. Moscow’s Patriarchate. In an interview with the Italian monthly “Trenta Giorni”, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Alexis I, declared: “we support all initiatives aimed at overcoming present divisions”. “Each case deserves to be accurately examined. The understanding of the causes of separation enables the identification of the solution. However, in respecting diversity, we must admit that the quest for the factors of unity is fruitful in most cases”. Protestants. Proclaiming together the Gospel and implementing peace and justice in the world, especially in the Holy Land. These are the challenges which Christians are called to meet together. The statement was made by Claude Baty , President of France’s Protestant Federation in an interview relaunched by the French Bishops Conference on the eve of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. “Today Christians are faced with two challenges. The proclamation of the Gospel is the prime concern. The awareness of being testimonies entails being testimonies all together”, Baty affirmed. The World Council of Churches assigned to Germany’s Lutheran pastor Kersten Storch the commitment of commenting the Week. “Divisions – she wrote – are present between and inside the Churches”. Despite the fact that “the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity cannot offer a solution to all of these problems”, its ” yearly celebration is a victory over divisions since it expresses the unity which Christians truly have in Christ”. England. “One-hundred years of work and prayer for the unity of the Church – said Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor , archbishop of London – have led to increasingly stronger understanding and cooperation between Christians. The ecumenical movement has been a great blessing for the Church and we must continue praying that the grace of the Holy Spirit may deepen the communion which already exists between Christians”. As in recent years, during the Week of Prayer the choruses of the Anglican and Catholic Cathedrals in London celebrated the vespers. While on Sunday 20, for the first time the new dean of Saint Paul’s Anglican Cathedral will visit the Catholic Cathedral of Westminster, where he will preach during the celebration of the vespers. Ukraine. Also this year, Ukraine’s Greek-Catholic Church was the promoter of an initiative of prayer for Christian Unity in Kiev. “The fact is that unfortunately many Christians are divorced”, said cardinal Lubomyr Husar. The most powerful and effective means ensuring Christians’ recovery of their original unity is prayer. Praying together is an opportunity to ask the Lord to forgive our sins and ask for the gift of unity”.