The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, held from January 18 to 25, acquired special significance on this year 2026 due to the impetus that Pope Leo is giving to the ecumenical path, as demonstrated by his first trip. During the Angelus of this past January 18, he recalled that “precisely one hundred years ago, the ‘Suggestions for the Octave of Prayer for the Unity of Christians’ were published for the first time,” and added: “I therefore invite all Catholic communities to strengthen, in these days, prayer for the total, visible unity of all Christians.”
Domus Galilaeae, chapel
The ecumenical week, which this year unfolded under the theme “One body and one Spirit” (Ephesians 4:4), is primarily an invitation to prayer and an urgent call to fraternity in a wounded world. In Jerusalem, the “Holy City” and cradle of our faith, it was lived with unique intensity. Unlike other places in the world, the local Christian community followed a calendar of evening encounters, visiting different historic sites as a manifestation of the rich diversity of rites and traditions that coexist in the city. The encounters began on Saturday, January 24, with the recitation of the Orthodox Apodeipnon office at Calvary, and extended over eight days, turning each evening into a common prayer.
From Sunday, January 25, the encounters continued at Saint George’s Anglican Cathedral, the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, the Armenian Cathedral of Saint James, and the Catholic Church of Saint Savior.
One of the most anticipated moments was the prayer in the Cenacle, the place where the primitive Church was born. There, prayer for unity always takes on a prophetic meaning, reminding us that, despite differences, we all drink from the same source.
Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem
In the following days, the evening prayers will take place at the Coptic Orthodox Church of Saint Anthony and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Finally, the Melkite Church of the Annunciation will close the octave as a sign of hope.
Certainly, effective unity is a distant goal, unattainable by human possibilities, but not for the Holy Spirit. Yet first there must arise an affective unity, of true fondness among Christians—an important objective and a step toward that day when we may all be one, so that the world may believe. And we can all contribute to that unity.
Don Joaquín Paniello, priest
St. George Cathedral, Jerusalem