The hundredth anniversary of the Week of Prayer for the Unity of Christians, that ends today with a solemn celebration of the Vespers in the Roman Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura, "offers us an opportunity to thank God the Almighty for the fruit of the ecumenical movement". It was said by Pope Benedict XVI as he received in audience, this morning, the members of the Work Group of the Papal Council for the Promotion of the Unity of Christians and the Ecumenical Council of the Churches of Geneva, gathered in Rome from 21 to 26 January, for their yearly plenary meeting. As to the hundredth anniversary of the Week, the Pope said that prayer for unity promotes, amidst Christians, "a deep harmony of the mind and heart: we can look at each other in a new way and we can spur each other to overcome what still separates us". On such anniversary went on Benedict XVI , "we will look gratefully to the work done by so many people" for spreading spiritual ecumenism through "common prayer, the conversion of the hearts and the growth of communion. We will also say thanks for the ecumenical dialogues, which bore plentiful fruit in the last century. The taking of such fruit is itself an important step in the process of promoting the unity of Christians". The joint Work Group is working at this type of study.
