“On this anniversary, we appeal to the modern world for reconciliation and peace, for respect for each nation’s right to exist and to freedom, to independence, to maintain its own culture. We cannot allow the truth to be ignored or manipulated for immediate political needs. This appeal is extremely important now, for – despite the dramatic experience of the past – the world in which … Read more
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – Sunday, January 26, the first “Sunday of the Word of God” will be celebrated in the world, announced by Pope Francis with the Apostolic Letter “Aperuit Illis”, so that “the life of our people be constantly marked by this decisive relationship with the living word that the Lord never tires of speaking to his Bride” (n.2). The Pope stresses that … Read more
The Conversion of St Paul is celebrated on 25th January, on the last day of what is now called ‘The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity’, a tradition begun one hundred years ago in 1908 by Lewis Thomas Wattson, an American Episcopalian priest, and Spencer Jones, an Anglican priest from Moreton-in-the-Marsh, Gloucestershire. It was then called ‘The Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity’. Wattson became a … Read more
“With this agreement, we have a legal framework that will henceforth regulate relations between the Catholic Church and the Congolese State, because a legal framework gives rise to the recognition of reciprocal rights and reciprocal obligations and it is in this spirit that we will work to promote the well-being of the Congolese people and also the common good of the Democratic Republic of the … Read more
Leaders of Christian communities throughout the world gather each year in the Vatican for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Pope Francis traditionally concludes the initiative presiding over Vespers at the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls. The theme for 2020, chosen and prepared by a group of representatives from the Christian Churches in Malta, is from the Acts of the Apostles: “They Showed … Read more
I hear the echoes in my old recorded melodies – “We need healing, we need peace”! I hear the echoes from the sentimental lyrics lamenting wars – “Peace, Salamu, Shalom! I hear the echoes in the best book I read last year by Sr Emmanuel – “Peace will have the Last Word”! I hear the echoes in the famous abbreviation – JPIC – Justice and … Read more
In this brief article I should like simply to look at one important New Testament test-case for grappling with Church disunity: Paul’s dealings with the fractious Corinthians, who, to his annoyance, were forever picking a fight, both with one another and with him. The place to start here is perhaps with the last surviving line of Paul’s correspondence with that quarrelsome group of Christians. Try … Read more
Yves Congar OP, the greatest ecumenist of the twentieth century, discovered his theological vocation when he was a young Dominican friar and was overwhelmed by studying John 17, where Jesus prays that the disciples may be one as he and the Father are one. Congar called it ‘the apostolic prayer of Jesus for Christian unity’ and he gave his entire life to heal the divisions … Read more
On 10th February many Christians in Malta celebrate the Feast of the Shipwreck of St Paul, marking and giving thanks for the arrival of Christian faith on these islands. The reading from the Acts of the Apostles used for the feast is the text chosen for this year’s Week of Prayer. Hospitality is a much needed virtue in our search for Christian unity. It calls … Read more
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