This week, the service was prepared by the brothers and sisters of the Chemin Neuf Community in Avranches, France.
Reflection text
In Unitate Fidei
https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/fr/apost_letters/documents/20251123-in-unitate-fidei.html (number 12)
Pope Leo XIV’s most important text on ecumenism is the apostolic letter *In unitate fidei* (‘In the Unity of the Faith’), published on 23 November 2025, to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and just before his first apostolic journey to Turkey and Lebanon.
Thanks to God, the ecumenical movement has achieved much in the last sixty years. It is true that full visible unity with the Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches and with the ecclesial communities born of the Reformation has not yet been reached. Nevertheless, ecumenical dialogue, founded on one baptism and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, has led us to recognize the members of other Churches and ecclesial communities as our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, and to rediscover the one universal community of Christ’s disciples throughout the world. We share the same faith in the one and only God, the Father of all people; we confess together the one Lord and true Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the one Holy Spirit, who inspires us and impels us towards full unity and the common witness to the Gospel. Truly, what unites us is much greater than what divides us! [17] In a world that is divided and torn apart by many conflicts, the one universal Christian community can be a sign of peace and an instrument of reconciliation, playing a decisive role in the global commitment to peace. Saint John Paul II reminded us, in particular, of the witness of the many Christian martyrs from all Churches and ecclesial communities: their memory unites us and spurs us on to be witnesses and peacemakers in the world.
Intercessions
To be adapted or modified according to the place and the circumstances
Lord, we entrust to you Pope Leo’s visit to France from 25 to 28 September 2026. May the media widely broadcast his message of peace and brotherhood. We also ask you to bestow your abundant blessing on the Pope’s visit to Metz, which is dedicated to Franco-German reconciliation and forms part of the European dimension of his journey.
Lord, we pray for our Jewish brothers and sisters, who celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, from 11 to 13 September 2026. They have also just celebrated Yom Kippur on 21 September, the Day of Atonement. May this new year bring them peace, forgiveness and joy!
Lord, we entrust to you the next international meeting in Assisi, to be held from 25 to 27 October 2026. For this 40th edition, with the theme Towards an ‘Unarmed and Disarming’ Peace, representatives from the major religions, the world of culture, civil society and politics will reflect on new paths towards dialogue, coexistence and peace.
Lord, we pray for the ecumenical team in La Manche. May its members heed your call to come together more deeply, and bear witness to Christ in this part of Normandy.
Prayer for Christian unity
Lord Jesus, who prayed that we might all be one,
we pray to you for the unity of Christians,
according to your will,
according to your means.
May your Spirit enable us
to experience the suffering caused by division,
to see our sin
and to hope beyond all hope.
Amen!
(Prayer written by members of the Chemin Neuf Community
inspired by a prayer of Father Paul Couturier)