1908
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| Fr Paul Wattson |
In the October, the friars become Roman Catholics corporately, and become the Society of the Atonement, with the mission ever since to pray and work for unity
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| St Pius X |
1909
Pius X approves the observance of the Society of the Atonement's Octave, alongside the existing Ascensiontide Novena established by Leo XIII in 1895.
1910
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| Edinburgh Mission Conference |
spiritual harmony among 121 member churches. The Catholic Church is invited to send delegates but does not participate.
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| Benedict XV |
Benedict XV extends the observance of the Octave to the whole Catholic Church at the height of the First World War, as a means to promote peace and reconciliation among all people
1921-26
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| Cardinal Mercier |
1920
Both the Lambeth Conference and the Ecumenical Patriarchate issue encyclical
letters calling for the union of the Christian churches in a spirit of prayer and mutual recognition of worship. The preparatory conference for the Faith and Order conference proposes a week of prayer ending at Pentecost (the period between Ascension and Pentecost is still used in the southern hemisphere as an alternative to the January Week of Prayer)
1921
The Faith and Order Conference includes Orthodox participants
1922
The Ecumenical Patriarch affirms Anglican orders, spiritual and sacramental life and calls for prayer for the union of the Anglican and Orthodox Churches
1926
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| Dom Lambert Beauduin |
The Faith and Order movement begins to publish its "Suggestions for an Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity"
1931
Paul Wattson renames his Church Unity Octave on the advice of Cardinal Bourne, Archbishop of Westminster. It becomes the Chair of Unity Octave, with an even stronger "return to Rome" focus
1933
Paul Couturier, a school master priest from Lyon, returns from retreat at Amay, deeply impressed by the spiritual riches of the life of the Eastern Christians. He takes to heart Cardinal Mercier’s Testament:- In order to unite with one another, we must love one another;
- in order to love one another, we must know one another;
- in order to know one another, we must go and meet one another
The Belgian links with England make him aware of the existence of the Anglican Church. Seeing that the Church Unity Octave is not achieving its aim to promote unity, instead of prayer for others to become Roman Catholics he proposes that all Christians could unite in prayer to grow in holiness and union with Christ, "according to his will, according to his means". Unity according to the mind of Christ was possible for nearly all Christians, without compromising the conscience or integrity of anyone or any Church body. A triduum on these lines is held during the Octave in the Cathedral of St John at Lyon
1934
The first full Week of Universal Prayer for the Unity of Christians is observed during the old Octave week at Lyon. From 1936 onwards, a day of prayer is set aside for each of the great traditions within the Christian Church. And from 1946, an alternative schema provides for prayer for the sanctification of Jewish and Muslim believers, as well as the sanctification of all Christians, in the hope of the "unity of all humanity in the charity and peace of Christ".
1936
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| Abbaye des Dombes |
1937
The Faith and Order Conference in Edinburgh and the Life and Work Conference in Oxford decide to establish a World Council of Churches in 1938, although this is deferred for 10 years by the Second World War
1937 & 8
Paul Couturier visits England twice. He attends offices and prays at Anglican convents and monasteries. The Community of the Holy Cross and the Catholic League (an Anglican foundation to promote reunion with Rome) promote the re-imagined Week of Prayer alongside the Chair of Unity Octave (the former Church Unity Octave)
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| Frere Roger Schutz |
Couturier encourages Roger Schutz to found a monastery (Taizé) in the Reformed Church in France, to pray and live for unity
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| Cardinal Hinsley |
Faith and Order moves its observance of its Week of Prayer to coincide with that developed by Wattson, Jones and now Couturier
1942
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| The unjustly maligned Bishop George Bell |
1943
Focolare is founded in Trento by Chiara Lubich, as a spiritual movement towards unity and universal
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| Chiara Lubich |
In the year before his death, Paul Wattson recognises the need for the Church Unity Octave to be modified when it was observed by Christians who were not Roman Catholics, suggesting that Anglicans, Orthodox and Protestant could pray "in a general way that unity be brought about". This is in tune with Ignatius Spencer's, John Henry Newman's and Edward Bouverie Pusey's 1840 "Plan of Prayer for Union" and the conclusions of Paul Couturier
1946
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| Pope Pius XII |
Pope Pius XII insists the Church Unity Octave requires prayer for the return of all Christians to the Roman Church
1948
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| Willem Visser t'Hooft |
1953
Couturier dies as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is offered among the Muslims of Morocco for the first time. He prays all Christians will be allowed to pray the Lord’s Prayer together
1957
The World Council of Churches Faith and Order movement informally co-operates with Couturier’s followers in Lyon to prepare annual themes and resources for the Week of Prayer
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| St John XXIII |
Pope John XXIII adopts Couturier’s Week of Prayer, effectively in place of the Church Unity/Chair of Unity Octave
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| Archbishop Fisher with Dr Billy Graham |
Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher visits John XXIII who has just founded the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity: the Pope abandons the idea of the ecumenism of
"return"
1964
Unitatis Redintegratio, issued during the Second Vatican Council, adopts Couturier's concept of spiritual ecumenism and promotes a shared prayer among Christians for unity. Catholics at last are formally encouraged to pray the Lord’s Prayer with other Christians
1965
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| Patriarch Athenagoras & Blessed Paul VI |
1966
Fifteen Roman Catholic ecumenical experts and fifteen expert representatives of the WCC meet in Geneva 16-20 October to discuss the Future of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Their proposal for representatives of the Faith & Order Commission, of the Catholic ecumenical centre at Lyon (Centre Unité Chrétienne) and of the Society of the Atonement (Graymoor and Rome) to prepare on an annual basis the booklet for the Week of Prayer is accepted. The Society of the Atonement's Chair of Unity Octave (founded in 1908 as the Church Unity Octave) is formally united with Couturier’s Week of Prayer for the Unity of Christians
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| Archbishop Ramsey visits B. Paul VI |
1966
Archbishop Michael Ramsey visits Pope Paul VI. They pray together and plan not just for dialogue but growing together spiritually in life and common action
1967
In February, the preparation together of the international materials for the Week of Prayer booklet for 1968 from now on formally becomes the work of a joint committee of representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and of the World Council of Churches through the Faith and Order Movement. The Churches in each country, co-operating ecumenically, are encouraged to adapt the text of the booklet and other materials to local needs. The Week of Prayer is encouraged to be celebrated 18-25 January or between Ascension Day and Pentecost (especially in the Southern Hemisphere), as suitable to countries’ local needs and according to ecumenical agreement. An Ecumenical Directory establishes the norms by which spiritual ecumenism is integral in the life of the Catholic Church. A revised edition is issued in 1993
1968
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| S. Egidio, Rome |
1972
The SPCU and the WCC jointly evaluate the progress of the Week of Prayer throughout the world. The joint working party is reduced in size to make it more manageable and more responsive. From now on, it is planned that a draft of plans for the booklet’s contents is to be prepared by an ecumenical panel in a designated country from around the world. The final form is to be jointly approved by the WCC, consulting its member churches, and the Catholic Church, consulting its episcopal conferences and the synods of Eastern Catholic Churches. The Week of Prayer begins to receive a much wider and more authoritative dissemination than ever before.
1973
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| Pere Laurent Fabre |
The Chemin Neuf Community is founded in Lyon by Laurent Fabré, to realise the spiritual ecumenism of Paul Couturier in life, marriage, family and discipleship, with a special care to pray for unity on a daily and weekly basis
1975
The Week of Prayer resources are devised for the first time by an ecumenical panel in a "local" country: Australia chooses the theme, "God’s purpose: all things in Christ"
1982
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| Archbishop Runcie & S. John Paul |
Pope John Paul II visits Archbishop Robert Runcie at Canterbury Cathedral, where they pray together at the site of St Thomas Becket’s martyrdom and together give a blessing at the end of the service
1993
The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity issues the Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms of Ecumenism, explicitly encouraging Catholic participation in ecumenical prayer, and especially the Week of Prayer
1995
Ut Unum Sint, Pope Saint John Paul II’s encyclical letter on ecumenism, reaffirms spiritual ecumenism and an intensified prayer for unity. This prompts a re-evaluation of spiritual ecumenism as a "spirituality of unity", or "ecumenical spirituality" as a movement within churches, towards a spirituality of communion and the ecumenism of life orienting the whole Church, and embracing the whole Christian people
2003
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| Cardinal Walter Kasper |
Celebrations in Lyon, London, and Bruges to mark the 50th Anniversary of the death of Paul Couturier and the 70th Anniversary of the rebirth of the Church Unity Octave as the Week of Prayer for the Unity of Christians. Archbishop Rowan Williams and Cardinal Walter Kasper at St Albans Abbey issue a new call to spiritual ecumenism. Hopes for a new lease of life for the Week of Prayer and the recovery of its spiritual basis in prayer for full unity
2005
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| Carthusian Martyrs' Commemoration, 2005 |
2006
Ecumenical Liturgy at Tyburn to celebrate the martyrs of all Christian traditions in London, towards the "purification of memory" called for in Ut Unum Sint, that their suffering and death in union with Christ will be fruitful for the unity of Christians
2007
Cardinal Kasper issues A Handbook of Spiritual Ecumenism
2008
One hundred years since Wattson and Spencer’s first Church Unity Octave there is a Service of Celebration and Commitment at Westminster Abbey, the United Kingdom's Royal Church, involving all the Churches Together in England. Similar events are held around the country and around the world, especially at Wattson's Graymoor and Paul Couturier's Lyon. It is 113 years since Leo XIII and Archbishop Benson both set aside the days around Pentecost as a season of prayer for unity, and 75 years since Couturier re-founded the Octave as the Week of Universal Prayer of Christians for the Unity of Christians.
2009
Professor Catherine Clifford, St Paul University, Ottawa, publishes A Century of Prayer for Christian Unity. From the cover: "This book is a celebration of the one-hundred-year history of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and a wonderful resource for understanding the theology and practice of common prayer for the reconciliation of the churches. Contributors to this volume represent a cross-section of perspectives both denominationally including Anglican, Roman Catholic, Baptist, and Reformed as well as in light of their lived experience of Christian spirituality and prayer. Each essayist offers significant insights into the history, theology, and spirituality of the Week of Prayer in particular, and of ecumenical prayer in general. Contributors: Catherine Clifford, Sr. Minke de Vries, Steven R. Harmon, Walter Cardinal Kasper, James Puglisi, Charles Sherlock, George Tavard."
© 2007, 2008 & 2016
