A tree with many branches

It’s been a week of meetings and prayer encounters for Christians across the spectrum – all aiming at finding ways to overcome the obstacles to uniting all of the common faith’s many churches. The annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that began on January 18, comes to a close on January 25^th, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.

In the general audience of January 19^th, Pope Benedict expressed his deep regret for the obstacles remaining on the path to full communion in Christ.

For those who have been participating in the events here in Rome, the Holy Father traditionally presides solemn evening vespers in the basilica of St. Paul’s outside the walls on January 25th, bringing to a close the weeklong prayers.

The week for unity is jointly organized each year by Protestant and Orthodox members of the World Council of Churches together with the Catholic Church. This year’s theme: “One in the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer”

The Churches of Jerusalem were invited this year to prepare a series of reflections for the occasion. Their meditation reflects on the need for unity through spiritual renewal, the celebration of the Eucharist and prayer grounded in the experience of the early Church – the very first Church in Jerusalem.

“It is not difficult to see how the situation of the first Christians in the Holy City mirrors that of the church in Jerusalem today” their message reads. “The current community experiences many of the joys and sorrows of the early church; its injustice and inequality, and its divisions, but also its faithful perseverance, and recognition of wider unity among Christians”

A Palestinian deacon for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem, Ashraf Tannous says the very real challenges facing Arab Christians in the Holy Land today are Israeli occupation and persistent emigration – slashing their numbers to 2% of the population.

In this report by Tracey McClure, he tells Vatican Radio Christianity's many churches are like a "tree with many branches." He says ecumenical dialogue and simply getting to know Christians from other denominations can be the first step to bringing churches closer to visible communion.
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