Pope Leo XIV sits next to Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, as he poses for a photo with participants attending a conference on the ecumenical implications of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican June 7, 2025. CNS PHOTO/VATICAN MEDIA
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity an opportunity to rediscover our common ground
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling.” – Ephesians 4:4
Many Christian churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, have observed a time of reflection and prayer to consider Christ’s call that all may be one. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is Jan. 18-25 each year. First observed in1908, it was ahead of its time, as the early twentieth century is not generally regarded as a time of significant ecumenical dialogue.
The mid-century however saw the Catholic Church undertake the Second Vatican Council to reassess the “signs of the times,” to include a broader outreach and embrace of multiple Christian denominations. There were Protestant leaders who were invited as observers to the Council. Thus a new era of ecumenism was inaugurated. That is not to say that the divisions within the Body of Christ have been healed. In fact, among many there is still hostility and mistrust.
The week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an annual occasion to remind the followers of Christ that it is his will that we be one, which may not mean everyone being in the same church and praying the same prayers every Sunday. The theme for this year from the letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians tells us, “there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling.”
Christian unity can have many manifestations. In November, Pope Leo made his first apostolic journey of his papacy to Turkey to visit Nicaea to observe the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. It was at this council that early Church communities defined their common ground in the Nicene Creed. To this day, the dogmas and theology common of the many early churches were defined and for the most part to this day still bind us together.
The rupture of unity defines churches, but also society and culture. Moses had to address the divisions and disunity of the Israelites that he led through the desert to the Promised Land. Jesus with his 12 apostles had to confront their arguing and jealousies among themselves.
The ancient churches of East and West are fractured yet strive even to this day to identify their common ground in Jesus Christ. The era of the Reformation saw the churches of the West, traditionally seeing their focal point to be the pope as the successor to St. Peter, created divisions that still defy healing.
When as a pastor I engaged in marriage preparation for couples preparing to be married, I was particularly attentive to couples coming from different Christan traditions. I would ask their core religious beliefs and also ask what they thought were the main divisions between their churches. Often that may have centered on the sacraments, the meaning of the Holy Eucharist or reconciliation.
What I hoped they might grasp is that the beliefs and practices we share in common are more encompassing than those things that separate us. Now, this is not to say that our differences are not consequential. But I challenged these couples to model for our churches unity in Christ and to strive to live the heart of the Gospel and to show their children and the world what unity can look like.
In 2026 let us the emphasize the “prayer” of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Most of us are not in a position to heal the divisions of East and West or the conflicts of Catholics and Protestants, but we can model charity and tolerance – and we can all pray that Christ’s prayer that all may be one will someday be fulfilled.
Most Reverend William F. Medley
Diocese of Owensboro
Originally printed in the January 2026 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
