2024 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – January 18 through January 25
“You shall love the Lord your God…and your neighbor as yourself.”
“Ecumenism” is derived from the Greek word oikoumene (Gk. οἰκουμένη)” that literally means “the whole inhabited world.” In actual practice, ecumenism is the promotion of cooperation and unity among Christians. Jesus Christ founded one Church and, in the midst of the Lord’s Passion, He prayed, “…that they may all be one” (Jn 17:21). In fidelity to that, the Catholic Church, since the Second Vatican Council, takes part in the ecumenical movement seeking visible unity among the diversity of Christian Churches and ecclesial communities.
When Unitatis redintegratio or the Decree on Ecumenism was promulgated at the end of the third session of the Council, Pope Saint Paul VI said that the Decree explained and completed Lumen gentium or the Constitution on the Church; then, in terms of the decree’s theological importance, the Holy Father closely linked the two documents. In the Decree on Ecumenism, the Council designated the restoration of unity among all Christians as one of its principal tasks and also made it clear that this is an ecumenism in truth and love, with the visible unity of the church as its goal (UR 2, par. 4).
Visible unity is not something external added to the individual churches but the unity of faith belongs to the intimate structure of faith, permeating all ecclesial elements. However, unity is not to be understood as uniformity. Rather, the unity of the Church is realized in the midst of a rich diversity of spirituality, discipline, liturgical rites, and celebration as long as this diversity remains faithful to the apostolic tradition. Elements of salvation are found in their fullness in the Catholic Church, however, “…some and even very many of the significant elements and endowments which together go to build up and give life to the Church itself, can exist outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church” (UR 3, par. 2). The decree further states “that, this unity subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose…” (UR 4, par. 3).
The concern for Christian unity, then, is fundamental to the understanding of the Church, and “the dynamism of the movement towards unity” is an expression of the Church’s continuing renewal in greater fidelity to her own calling (UR 6, par. 1). As Pope Saint John Paul II stated in his 1995 encyclical Ut Unum Sint, “ecumenism, the movement for promoting Christian unity, is not just some sort of ‘appendix’ which is added to the Church’s traditional activity. Rather, ecumenism is an organic part of her life and work, and must pervade all she is and does” (UUS 20).
Prayer for Christian Unity
Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute
God of all, we pray as one, that we may be one, just as the Lord Jesus prayed we may be one in Him. Your Son Jesus compels us to be reconciled to one another. May our spirits be joined to Your Holy Spirit, that we may witness to the visible unity of your Church. May we all recognize that we are truly one with You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and grow together in peace. We ask this in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Nature and dignity 