A Brief History of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
by Sr. Lorelei F. Fuchs, SA, Associate Director
Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute, New York, NY

        A worldwide observance, the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity began in the Episcopal Church in 1908 at Graymoor, in New York’s Hudson Valley. Ten years earlier Paul James Wattson, a priest of the Episcopal Church, co-founded the Franciscan religious congregations comprising the Society of the Atonement at Graymoor with Lurana Mary White, also an Episcopalian. Wattson was a vigorous advocate of Anglican and Roman Catholic reunion, and he emphasized the role of the papacy in the reunion of Christians.
        Fr. Wattson had few supporters in his church. One of them was the Rev. Spencer Jones, a rector of the Church of England, and noted catechetical author. In 1907 Jones suggested to Wattson that a day of prayer for Christian unity should be observed throughout the world every year on the Feast of St. Peter (June 29). Fr. Wattson liked the idea but recommended a “Church Unity Week” beginning on the Feast of the Chair of Peter (at that time January 18) and ending on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (January 25).
        First observed in 1908, Church Unity Week was eventually called the “Church Unity Octave” by Fr. Wattson, since there were eight days between the two feasts. The following year the members of the Society of the Atonement were corporately received into the Roman Catholic Church. As part of their commitment to pray and minister for the fulfillment of the prayer of Jesus ‘that all may be one’, the Friars and Sisters of the Atonement continued promoting the Church Unity Octave. Meanwhile, the Faith and Order movement expressed interest in common Christian prayer for unity and in 1926 published “Suggestions for an Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity”, proposing that more Christian churches pray together for unity. In the 1930s Wattson changed the name “Church Unity Octave” to the “Chair of Unity Octave”, emphasizing the role of the papacy in the union of the Christian churches. In 1935 Abbé Paul Couturier, a Catholic priest in France, advocated a “Universal Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” during which Christians would pray together ‘for the unity Christ wills by the means He wills’. Common Christian prayer for unity continued to grow throughout the world.
        With the Second Vatican Council, 1962-1965, an increasing number of Roman Catholics joined other Christians each year in January for common prayer for unity. The council’s Decree on Ecumenism, promulgated in 1964, called prayer the soul of the ecumenical movement and encouraged the observance of what is now known as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. 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 on a common international text for worldwide usage. Since 1968 these international texts, which are based on themes proposed by ecumenical groups throughout the world, have been developed, adapted and published for use in the United States by the Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute. To assist in this endeavor, the GEII invites contributions from ecumenists and church leaders in America.
        By 1991 an observance called Ecumenical Sunday had also become fully integrated into the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. It began as a response to local councils of churches which hoped to find a common Sunday when local churches might interpret to their members the meaning and work of the ecumenical movement. In 1983, the National Council of Churches’ Governing Board urged their member communions to name such a Sunday. Eventually, conversations among organizers of the Week of Prayer and representatives of the NCC and local councils led to placing Ecumenical Sunday within the Week of Prayer context.
Each year the theme and texts for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity are initially prepared by an international group whose members are appointed by the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The international committee preparing the Week of Prayer resources divides into two working language groups, French and English. Based on the texts of these groups, the Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute prepares the present resources for the observance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in the United States.
        This year’s materials were prepared by the churches in Ireland. Those responsible for preparing the first draft of this year’s Week of Prayer materials were conscious of the rich spiritual heritage of Ireland with roots in ancient Christianity and thus shared by all Christian traditions. They were equally conscious that the Christian churches have been caught up and ensnared in the conflicts and tensions which have shaped Irish life in past centuries. There are deep wounds that have been caused or made more painful by Christian divisions. Over the past twenty-five years the draft texts for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity have been prepared in Ireland, against the backdrop of a decreasing level of violence and an increased hope for a Christ-filled peace. Conscious of Ireland’s rich but complex history, this year’s source group had several reasons for choosing Matthew 18:15-22, “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (v. 20), as the biblical text and theme for the 2006 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Firstly, they wished to draw attention to Jesus as the source of our unity, emphasising that he has already shown us the way to be instruments of the unity which God desires for us. Secondly, while hopes often rise and fall in relation to larger gestures and initiatives for peace, the members of the source group wished to draw attention to the simplicity of two or three coming together in Christian mutual love as a vital means of building up relations between divided peoples and communities. It is often the case that small gatherings, local relations and friendships can have a powerful impetus in creating a spirit of peace and reconciliation. Many experiences in Ireland’s recent history bear witness to this. Thirdly, the drafters were mindful that peace and reconciliation in the present as well as hope for the future necessarily involve dealing with painful memories and hurtful grievances of the past. Christian discipleship compels us to assist in finding constructive ways of dealing with past wounds and giving common witness in seeking and choosing paths leading to reconciliation. It is in that spirit that all Christians who use these Week of Prayer resources are encouraged to come together in Jesus’ name, in prayer and in mutual love to seek to understand each other amidst differences. We can then become ever more powerful signs of reconciliation and witnesses to the healing presence of Christ’s love. To this end, Graymoor’s planning committee crafted the following wording as the textual theme for the observance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in the USA: “Where two or three are gathered in my name...” (Matthew 18:20). The features provided in this year’s resources thus intend to evoke a sustained reflection on Jesus’ invitation to gather in his name and on the meaning such gathering holds for the unity of the church and the renewal of the human community.

Una Breve Historia de la Semana de Oración por la Unidad Cristiana