DIALOGUE IS THE KEY
The Church Unity Octave was first observed in January, 1908. Celebrated in the chapel of a small Atonement Franciscan Convent of the Protestant Episcopal Church, on a remote hillside fifty miles from New York City, this new prayer movement caught the imagination of others beyond the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement to become an energetic movement that gradually blossomed into a worldwide observance involving many nations and millions of people.
From Church Unity Octave to Global Prayer
When Fr. Paul and Sr. Lurana became Roman Catholics, Pope Pius X gave his blessing to the Church Unity Octave, and in 1916 Pope Benedict XV extended its observance to the universal church. This recognition by papal authority gave the Octave its impetus throughout the Roman Catholic Church.
Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, various movements and organizations contributed to the development of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. In the 1930s, Abbé Paul Couturier further advanced the cause by promoting inclusive prayer for Christian unity. By 1993, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity formally encouraged participation in this observance. Today, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is supported globally by the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity, with materials published by Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute.
MILESTONES IN THE HISTORY OF THE WPCU
From early (and often forgotten) gestures of unity several hundred years ago to the latest developments, here are important moments in the history of the WPCU and the ecumenical and interreligious dialogue movements in general.
Fr. Paul James Francis Wattson, SA and The Rev. Spencer Jones at their first face-to-face meeting.
THE REV. SPENCER JONES
In November 1907, the Rev. Spencer Jones, Anglican vicar of St. David’s, Moreton-in-Marsh, England, an ardent supporter of Fr. Wattson’s ideas, wrote and suggested the idea of a day of prayer for Catholic unity to be observed on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul (June 29th). Fr. Paul wrote back about his idea of the Church Unity Octave. In 1928, the Rev. Spencer Jones wrote in a letter to Fr. Paul, “Of course, the Church Unity Octave is your child and its marvelous development and success is due entirely to yourself, under God.” However, he is often credited along with Fr. Paul Wattson as the inspiration behind the January celebration of Week of Prayer.
Fr. Paul James Francis Wattson, SA and The Rev. Spencer Jones at their first face-to-face meeting.
ABBÉ PAUL COUTURIER (1881 – 1953)
Ordained in the Roman Catholic Church in 1906, Abbé Paul Couturier was a French priest who advocated Christian unity and ardently promoted early in the 1930s the idea of a Universal Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. He believed that Christians should pray together “for the unity Christ wills by the means He wills.” In 1933, he introduced a Triduum (three days of prayer) for Christian Unity at Lyon. He was on the staff of the Institut des Chartreux at Lyon from 1909 until 1951. In 1952 he was given the title of honorary Archimandrite by the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch, Maximus IV.
GRAYMOOR INSTITUTE’S ROLE IN PUBLISHING ECUMENICAL UNITY TEXTS
In 1966, the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Vatican Secretariat (now Council) for Promoting Christian Unity began collaborating as a common international text for worldwide usage. Since 1968 these international texts, which are based on themes proposed by ecumenical groups around the world, have been developed, adapted and published for use in the United States by the Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute.
On the day of Pentecost 5 June 1960, Pope Saint John XXIII created the then Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity.
ECUMENICAL GUIDELINES AND GLOBAL SUPPORT FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY
In 1993, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity issued the Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms of Ecumenism and explicitly encouraged participation in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. So today the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity belongs to all Christians who are sincerely interested in the fulfillment of Christ’s prayer “that all may be one.” When he discusses prayer in common in his A Handbook of Spiritual Ecumenism, Cardinal Walter Kasper specifically mentions that “the celebration of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity world-wide is an initiative of singular importance to be encouraged and further developed.”
It is sponsored by the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Discastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity. On a national basis, materials for the celebration of the Week of Prayer are the published by Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute.