Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Posted on 12. Jan, 2017, in Christian Values, Church of Ireland, Church Teachings, CommunityComments Off on Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
January 18th to 25th is known as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity around the world and it is now organised by the World Council of Churches and the Holy See. Martin Browne OSB talked to Marie Stuart about the origins of the week in 1908. This year is a particularly important year as we marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s articulation of his doubts and questions that have come to be known as his Ninety-five Theses. Luther had no intention of confronting the church, but saw his disputation as a scholarly objection to church practices, and he saw the tone of the writing as “searching, rather than doctrinaire”. However his refusal to withdraw his writings lead to his being excommunicated. Martin Browne told Marie about the theme for this year which is ‘Reconciliation – The Love of Christ Compels Us’ based on 2 Corinthians 5:14-20. He spoke about the appropriateness of the theme in the context of the 500th Anniversary of Luther’s proclamation and in the context of the times in which we are living.