Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - This year the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 18 to 25 January, theme “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am with them” (Mt 18,18-20), will be celebrated with special care by the international Benedictine community which resides in the monastery adjoining the Basilica of St Paul’s outside the Walls in Rome. The Benedictines have invited not only individuals of different confessions but also whole communities to take part in daily 5pm solemn celebration of Vespers to pray together for the gift of unity among all Christ’s disciples..
The first to come on Wednesday 18 January will be Anglicans from All Saint Anglican church in Via del Babuino, Rome led by the Rector Rev. Jonathan Boardman. On Sunday 22 January St Paul’s Choir, which sings only on very important occasions, will sing at the main Mass in the Basilica at 10.30am. Monday 23 January priests and faithful of Rumanian Orthodox rite parishes in Rome and Ostia will be present at Vespers. The other five evenings the special guests will be Catholic communities and religious institutes especially engaged in ecumenical work from different parts of Rome. On Wednesday 25 January, the feast of the Conversion of St Paul, by way of solemn conclusion to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Benedict XVI, like his predecessor Pope John Paul II, will preside Solemn Vespers at 5.30 at the Altar of the Tomb of St Paul, in the presence of representatives of all different Christian communities in Rome.
Encouraged by the special mandate received from Pope Benedict XVI [Motu Proprio "The ancient and venerable Basilica" 31 May 2005], to hold special ecumenical prayers and initiatives in St Paul’s Basilica, in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity the Benedictine community, reinforced with the arrival of ten more Benedictines from various different countries, is planning various ecumenical cultural and liturgical events. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 13/1/2006, righe 21, parole 311)
