Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

January 18-25, 2025

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is a response to Christ's prayer “that they all may be one" (John 17:21). It is an eight-day period of prayer in which all Christians are invited to participate. The week is celebrated each year from January 18-25, concluding on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.

Theme

Each year, a different theme is chosen for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The theme for 2025 is "Do you believe?" (John 11:17-27). The passage chosen begins with Jesus' arrival in Bethany and discovery that Lazarus has died, and it includes Jesus' assurance to Martha that "whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live."

The theme was chosen by the Ecumenical Monastic Community of Bose in Italy, in cooperation with the international team appointed by the Catholic Church’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches.

The year 2025 is especially significant since it marks the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the first Ecumenical Council of Christian churches, which was called by Emperor Constantine I. The council took place in 325, just 12 years after co-emperors Constantine and Licinius met and agreed to grant legal status to Christianity. Having been practiced "underground" for nearly 300 years, there was an urgent need for a unified voice and the result was the council's creation of the first Nicene Creed.

Biblical Text (John 11:17-27)

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world” (John 11:17-27).

History

The history of the week dates back to late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1894, Pope Leo XIII encouraged the practice of a Prayer Octave for Unity and encouraged Catholics to recite the Rosary for the intention of Christian unity. A little more than a decade later, two Americans, Father Paul James Wattson and Sister Lurana White, co-founders of the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement, started a prayer movement to pray for the return of non-Catholic Christians to the Holy See. The two were Episcopalians who converted to Catholicism. In 1907, a conversation between Father Wattson and an English clergyman, Reverend Spencer Jones, led Reverend Jones to suggest that a day be set aside for prayer for Christian unity. Father Wattson agreed but proposed an octave of prayer between the Feast of St. Peter’s Chair on January 18 and the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on January 25. The first "Church Unity Octave" was observed in 1908. After Father Wattson and Sister Lurana became Catholic, Pope Pius X gave his blessing to the Church Unity Octave, and in 1916, Pope Benedict XV extended its observance to the universal Church.

While the Catholic Church adopted the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, it was Abbé Paul Couturier, a priest of the Archdiocese of Lyons in France, who, in 1935, helped extend its reach to other Christian faiths. He promoted a "Universal Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" on the basis that it was the Lord's will - “Our Lord would grant to his Church on earth that peace and unity which were in his mind and purpose, when, on the eve of his Passion, he prayed that all might be one.” It was a successful way of uniting all Christians in the same prayer.

Prayer for the Week

Lord our God, we confess together our faith in the mystery of your perfect unity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one and only God. We pray for the grace to grow in unity together as your Church. By baptism, we profess this unity in the gift of your Holy Spirit, born again as your sinless children, yet we quickly surrender to the temptation of division.

Forgive us this sin and lead us to the miracle of being reconciled by the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sin and division lead to death and destruction. In Jesus, who conquered death forever by his supreme act of love, we are empowered in this world to build his kingdom of forgiveness and peace. We pray, heavenly One, to you as our Father, that we truly believe and trust in the promise of the Gospel “that they all may be one.” We ask this through Jesus Christ, our brother and Lord, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Daily Themes for Prayer and Meditation

Day 1: The fatherhood and care of God who rules the universe
Day 2: Creation as God’s work
Day 3: The Incarnation of the Son
Day 4: The Paschal Mystery: Passion, death and resurrection of Jesus
Day 5: The Holy Spirit, the giver of life and joy
Day 6: The Church: Community of believers
Day 7: Baptism into the death and resurrection of the Lord
Day 8: Waiting for the kingdom and the life to come

Click here for meditations and prayers for each of the days. [External Link] / View in Spanish [External Link]

Prayer for Day One of the Week

Father of compassion, renew our faith in you and bind us together through your love, so that we can recognize each other as your children, and come together as one. We praise you through Jesus Christ, your only-begotten Son, in the communion of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayer for Day Two of the Week

Lord God, Father of lights, strengthen our hearts in expectation and hope as we work for unity and together seek the harmony of all creation. Let us be burning lamps, until the day of the coming of your Son in glory, with all his saints in the everlasting kingdom. Blessed are you, now and forever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

View all the daily prayers for the week.

Intercessory Prayers

For all Christian Churches and faith communities, that they may continue to show one another extraordinary kindness in guiding them towards reconciliation and unity in Christ…

For all Christian Churches and faith communities, that they may be faithful witnesses to the Gospel call to reconciliation…

For church leaders everywhere during this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, that they may work together and promote unity among Christians …

For the Church, that God would inspire God’s people to continue the quest for Christian unity and that our hearts be filled with the gift of Jesus’ love for all …

View more suggestions for intercessory prayers.