Vicariate of Rome
Press and Social Communications Office

Press Release

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
and the diocesan ecumenical vigil

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins on 18 January and ends on the 25th, with the celebration of Vespers at Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls presided over by Pope Francis. In the diocese of Rome, the vigil on Friday 19 at San Gaspare del Bufalo will be central, but moments of prayer are planned in many churches and communities

Love towards God and towards others will be at the centre of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2024, which will have as its theme “You shall love the Lord your God ...and your neighbour as yourself” (Lk 10:27) and will be held from 18 to 25 January. On the latter date, the Solemnity of the Conversion of Saint Paul, at 17.30, in the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, Pope Francis will conclude the Week with the celebration of Vespers. Among the various events scheduled, central will be the diocesan ecumenical vigil, on Friday 19 January at 19.00 in the parish of San Gaspare del Bufalo (piazza of the same name), which will be attended by representatives of the various confessions present in Rome. It will be presided over by Bishop Riccardo Lamba, diocesan delegate for Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue; the homily will be offered by Pastor Dr. Michael Jonas, of the Lutheran Church of Rome; and the animation will be provided by the Romanian Orthodox, Methodist and Waldensian, DecimaQuinta and San Gaspare del Bufalo choirs.

During the Week several initiatives will be organized by parishes and communities with an ecumenical theme. Among them, in the parish of Dio Padre Misericordioso on Thursday 18 at 20.30 there will be a vigil of the XVI prefecture, at which Pastor Andrea Aprile, from the Baptist Church in Via del Grano, will speak. On Tuesday, 23 January, at 19.00, there will be a parish ecumenical prayer service for Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri at the nearby Methodist Church in Via XX Settembre (corner of Via Firenze). As is tradition, Mass in the various Catholic rites of East and West will be solemnly celebrated in the Ecumenical Eucharistic Centre of Santa Maria in Via Lata (via del Corso, 306) of the Daughters of the Church, starting at 20.00; the various Pontifical Colleges present in Rome will also participate.

The Guide to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2024 was prepared by a local ecumenical group from Burkina Faso, coordinated by the Chemin Neuf Community. In particular, brothers and sisters from the Catholic Archdiocese of Ouagadougou, Protestant Churches, ecumenical bodies and the Chemin Neuf Community in Burkina Faso were involved in the drafting of the text. Since 2016, the African country has been experiencing a serious crisis affecting all faith communities. Terrorist attacks, which have caused more than three thousand deaths and almost two million internally displaced people, "while thousands of schools, health centres, and town halls have been closed," the subsidy states, "and much of the socio-economic and transport infrastructure has been destroyed. Christian churches in particular have been the target of armed attacks: priests, pastors and catechists have been killed; many are still in the hands of kidnappers. More than 22% of the country's territory is out of the control of the authorities, and in these contexts, Christians can no longer practise their faith openly.

"In the light of the tragic events of war taking place in so many scenarios, which no continent is spared and also involve Christians against other Christians," reflects Bishop Riccardo Lamba, diocesan delegate for Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue, "it seems ever more urgent to emphasize that the love of God and brothers is not a wish or a utopian project, but a real 'commandment', practicable only to the extent that every disciple of Jesus Christ, in a continuous journey of conversion, and every Christian community, allow themselves to be purified by the Love of God in order to become increasingly able to love as Jesus did".

In this regard, Monsignor Marco Gnavi, head of the diocesan office for ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, observes: “The Week of Prayer is by now a tradition of the Churches and ecclesial communities, but this is never taken for granted, precisely because the pressures towards division, given the international contexts and conflicts, are such that every gesture of prayer, every step towards unity takes on greater value. The theme chosen is "at the very root of our being Christians," he continued, "since it is the two commandments of love towards God and towards our neighbour that summarize all our choices and re-propose themselves in this wounded and complicated day of ours as a simple, direct and possible way”.

Journalists and media workers who wish to attend the celebration of Vespers presided over by the Holy Father on Thursday 25 January must apply no later than 24 hours before the event, exclusively via the Holy See Press Office online accreditation system, at press.vatican.va/accreditamenti. Accreditation is not required to participate in the events.

16 January 2024

Giulia Rocchi, Press Office, Vicariate of Rome,
tel. +390669886343/150; +393393749085
e-mail stampa@vicariatusurbis.org; giulia.rocchi@diocesidiroma.it