Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

"Tomorrow begins the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Since unity which our Lord wills for all his disciples is ultimately God’s gift, I encourage everyone to join fervently in imploring this great grace. The closer we draw to Christ and the more we are converted by his truth and love, the closer we will draw to one another. In many countries the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is also preceded by a Day of Reflection between Christians and Jews, in order to build greater respect, friendship and cooperation between our two communities.

"The theme of this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - 'He even makes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak' - is inspired by Saint Mark's account of Jesus' healing a man who was deaf and mute (cf. Mk 7:37). Through Baptism, all Christians have been freed from spiritual deafness, enabled to hear God's word and charged to bear witness to it in word and deed, by the exercise of Christian charity. May our common prayers and our efforts to live fully the grace of our Baptism hasten the day when all Christ’s followers will live in perfect communion."

Pope Benedict XVI
from today's General Audience