This Friday the Diocese of Algarve ends the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with an ecumenical vigil at the Cathedral of Faro, an initiative that for 20 years has brought together Catholics, Anglicans, Orthodox, Greek-Catholics and Lutherans.
The prayer vigil on the 25th of January, the highlight of the Week, will be attended by representatives of the Anglican Church, of English origin, through the chaplaincy of Saint Vincent, the Lutheran Church, with German roots, and the Romanian Orthodox Church and Russian and Byzantine-rite Greek-Catholic Christians.
In an interview with the ECCLESIA Program, at Antena 1, Father Joaquim Nunes, responsible for the Commission on Ecumenism of the Catholic Church in the Algarve, highlights an event that reinforces the relationship of “closeness” that exists between the various religious confessions of Christian origin.
“Participation has always been fraternal, joyful, it is not only in person but also has to do with the motivation of the communities themselves”, stresses the priest.
With the theme “What does God require of us?”, the prayer octave that began on the 18th in all dioceses across the country was prepared this year by the Christian Student Movement of India.
In addition to the vigil, the ties between the Algarve's Christian churches are materialized throughout the year through the "use of churches for the celebrations of each religious confession", in the "proximity of languages, through the use of German and English, in addition to Portuguese” and in a common project of reading the bible, says Father Joaquim Nunes.
The parishes of Luz, in Lagos, Palhagueira and Santa Bárbara de Nexe, in Faro, are examples of communities where ecumenism is effectively being practiced and reinforced.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in Portugal will culminate on Friday with an ecumenical celebration in the church of São José, in Coimbra at 21 pm, with the participation of D. António Couto, president of the Episcopal Commission for Mission and New Evangelization, responsible for the sector of ecumenism, and D. Virgílio Antunes, bishop of Coimbra, expecting the presence of faithful and ministers from other Christian Churches.
The Octave was recently at the center of a new message from the Pope to his approximately 2,5 million followers on the social network Twitter, now in nine languages, after the introduction of Latin:
“What does the Lord ask us to do for Christian unity? Pray with constancy, practice justice, love kindness and walk with Him”, points out the text, in its Portuguese version.
Ecumenism is the set of initiatives and activities aimed at favoring the return to Christian unity, broken in the past by schisms and ruptures.
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