The theme for the 44th edition of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2011 (the first took place in 1968) is “One in the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer”. It was chosen by a group of Christian leaders from Jerusalem, including Michel Sabbah, Emeritus Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Munib Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, and other members of the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and of the Syrian-Orthodox, Melkite-Catholic, Armenian-Orthodox and Episcopalian churches.
The theme and “the material for the week – reads a statement issued by the World Council of Churches (WCC) – are jointly coordinated by the WCC Faith and Order Commission and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity” and are “a call to remember the time when the Church was still one”. “The unity of the Church we seek is not a mere abstraction”, said Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general Secretary”.
“For Christians in Jerusalem, who live in continuity with the apostolic community of Jerusalem, the mother church of us all, such unity entails prayer, reflection and a cry arising within a context of despair and suffering. Together with them we trust that God is ever vigilant as we pray for peace and justice for all inhabitants of the Holy Land”.
The week will be traditionally celebrated between 18 and 25 January 2011.