THE Week of Prayer for Christian Unity celebrated its 104th year from 5-12 June this year, with the theme One in the Apostles’ Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread and Prayer.
Since 1968, it has been jointly prepared by the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches and by the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity of the Catholic Church.
Although Focolare foundress Chiara Lubich made it clear in 1960 that, when she spoke of unity, she did not mean ecumenical unity, nonetheless on 14 January 1961 she met with a group of Lutherans – an encounter that led her to realise that the spirituality of unity, based on living the Gospel, was not only for Catholics but for all Christians.
On 24 May 1961 she made a note in her diary: “God’s will is mutual love. Therefore, to mend this break, it is necessary to love each other.”
The spirituality of unity later drew the interest of Anglicans in Great Britain and Australia and members of the Reformed Church in Switzerland, Holland and Hungary.
It was received by members of various Christian Churches in Europe and by Eastern Churches in the Middle East, and then by Christians in other countries. Patriarch Athenagoras I became interested in the spirituality of unity and encouraged its spreading in the Orthodox Churches.
After 30 years of Focolare ecumenical involvement in 1996, another historic step was made in London.
While meeting with 1,000 Anglicans, Catholics, Methodists and Baptists who lived this spirituality of unity, Chiara sensed that a particular style of ecumenical commitment was emerging that was specific to the Movement and born from its spirituality: a “dialogue of life” or a “dialogue of the people”, which was not in opposition to other forms of dialogue but in support of them.
There are now Christians from over 350 Churches in five continents who promote this type of dialogue and witness that it is possible to live in unity with Christ among us.
In WA, members of the Focolare Movement from various Christian backgrounds meet regularly on a monthly basis and share how they try to live the word of God in their lives.
As a member of the Midland word of life group said recently, “There are Anglicans and Catholics in our group but we never think of it, we are all just brothers and sisters.”
For more information,
visit www.focolare.org.