Churches pray and work together for Christian unity; Reaction to appointment of RC Coadjutor for Armagh; Government, church to meet in ‘structured dialogue process’
Churches pray and work together for Christian unity
Hundreds of thousands of Christians across Britain and Ireland are joining in the 2013 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in churches across these islands.
The Week is an annual event marked by churches of all traditions – Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, evangelical and indigenous. It runs from 18-25 January, though many congregations were most involved yesterday on Sunday, 20 January.
The collaborative event aims at building bridges in witness and common service between Christians of many backgrounds and understandings, and is promoted by ecumenical bodies nationally and internationally.
Here the official ‘four nations’ (England, Scotland, Wales and both jurisdictions of Ireland) ecumenical body, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) makes resources available for the week.
The theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2013 comes from an ecumenical group in South India. They have reflected upon their own context and offer to people across the globe thematic ideas that call fellow Christians to respond to the obligation to act justly in the world.
The text is taken from Micah 6.6-8.
The title for the Week this year is in the form of a challenging question: ‘What does God require of us?’
“The search for visible unity cannot be disassociated from the dismantling of casteism and the lifting up of contributions to unity by the poorest of the poor,” states the introductory text for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2013.
As the introduction says, “In many ways, the situation facing the people of God in the time of Micah can be compared to the situation of the Dalit community in India. Dalits also face oppression and injustice from those who wish to deny them their rights and dignity.”
The Student Christian Movement of India was invited to prepare the resource for the week of prayer, along with the All India Catholic University Federation and the National Council of Churches in India.
At least once a year, many Christians become aware of the great diversity of ways of honouring God. Hearts are touched, and people realize that their neighbours’ ways are not so strange – says the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches.
The event that touches off this special experience is something called the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Traditionally celebrated between 18-25 January (in the northern hemisphere) or at Pentecost (in the southern hemisphere), the Week of Prayer enters into congregations and parishes all over the world. Pulpits are exchanged, and special ecumenical celebrations and prayer services are arranged.
Ecumenical partners in a particular region are asked to prepare a basic text on a biblical theme. Then an international group with WCC-sponsored (Protestant and Orthodox) and Roman Catholic participants edits this text and ensures that it is linked with the search for the unity of the church.
The text is jointly published by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and WCC, through the WCC’s Commission on Faith and Order, which also accompanies the entire production process of the text. The final material is sent to member churches and Roman Catholic dioceses, and they are invited to translate the text and contextualize it for their own use.
* Brochure for 2013 in English (*.PDF Adobe Acrobat document): http://www.oikoumene.org/fileadmin/files/wcc-main/documents/p2/2013/WOP2…
* Why do we pray together? A reflection on Christian unity, by Harry Hagopian: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/17829
Reaction to appointment of RC Coadjutor for Armagh
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/catholic-leader-in-waiting-untainted-by-abuse-220063.html
Government, church to meet in ‘structured dialogue process’
Irish Times – Fri 18 – The church delegation will be led by Cardinal Seán Brady who will be accompanied by Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise Dr Colm O’Reilly, Bishop of Cork and Ross Dr John Buckley, Fr Michael Drumm, chairman of the Catholic Schools Partnership, and …
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2013/0118/1224329000461.html