Writing in the diocesan E-news at the start of a recent Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, bishop Philip wrote “Christian Unity is one of my passions.” He went on to say that “I want us all to be more open to the spiritual gifts that flow from a greater engagement with our fellow Christians” Read more of the Bishop’s statement.

Photos: Dicastero per la Promozione dell’Unità dei Cristiani (Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity).

The bishop’s – and by extension, our – responsibilities for pursuing Christian Unity are laid out in very readable format in the Vatican document “The Bishop and Christian Unity: an Ecumenical Vademecum” to which bishop Philip refers in his E-news article above.

To help him with his responsibility, the bishop has appointed a small “Christian Unity Team”, headed by Deacon Stephen Patterson, whose role is to help in ensuring that Christian Unity is given an appropriate priority in our parishes. It does this through:

  • Making all parishes aware of the need to support their bishop in working for Christian unity.  

  • Encouraging engagement with other Christians by sharing examples of good practice so that others might be persuaded to commit in a similar way.  

  • Building contacts with those working for Christian unity in other Christian denominations.

  • Arranging educational and other activities with other Christians to encourage friendship, commitment and joint prayer.

  • Challenging us all to adopt Cardinal Hume’s approach that Christians should “not do apart that which we can do together”.

The Vademecum contains much practical advice and guidance for the development of Christian Unity in dioceses and parishes. This document is an extract showing those practical recommendations that may be of use at local levels.

As Bishop Philip noted in his article, for many years Christian Unity did not have the high priority that it now enjoys at the highest levels of the Church. Vatican II changed all that and in the opening paragraph of “Unitatis Redintegratio” the world’s bishops said “The restoration of unity among all Christians is one of the principal concerns of the Second Vatican Council. Christ the Lord founded one Church and one Church only. […] division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages the holy cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature.”  You can read the full document here.

Photo: Dicastero per la Promozione dell’Unità dei Cristiani (Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity).

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