This week’s service has been prepared by the brothers and sisters of the Community in Montagnieu (France).
Reflection text
Father, That they may be one
Excerpt from the preface to the latest book by the Dombes Group, Father, That they may be one. From division to unity, Cerf, 2026.
Are you one of those who wonder what is the point of praying for the unity of the Christian churches, when so many other concerns weigh heavily on us in these times of global transformation, with their share of anxieties and new divisions? In the increasingly deteriorating political context of the last three years, with extremely serious situations involving innocent deaths, doesn’t this prayer seem like escapism?
Do you doubt whether churches can find enough courage to recognize each other and develop forms of communion? Or do you even think that unity risks becomng uniformity and that it would be enough to maintain simple bonds of solidarity and communication?
Our appeal stems from an acute awareness of the need to maintain intercession specifically together: for unity in such a divided world, a unity that for several decades has been affirmed as a „communion respectful of internal diversity”. Unity “in reconciled diversity,” therefore to be lived in common, with polyphonic voices, resisting through faith, hope, and love the temptations of division and inhumanity, by proposing an alternative horizon to that of walls and borders: bringing together praying individuals and communities from around the world in an “invisible monastery,” according to the image used by one of the pioneers of the Dombes Group, Father Paul Couturier.
Deliberately brief and concise, our plea follows on from the lengthy study that precedes it: ‘For all the nations… For the catholicity of the Churches, a call to make room for common life in Christ who is “all in all.”
The central thesis of this work, which states: „It is possible to affirm that the Catholic Church and the Churches of the Reformation form one single Church, albeit in imperfect communion (5533)”, encourages us to call for prayer to deepen and express this communion between our still-separated Churches in faithful commitment, on a journey of constantly renewed conversion to the heart of the faith, and to do this in the midst of the world’s divisions. This is where our priority and emphasis lie: the unity of the Churches is at the service of the unity of the world..
Intercessions
To be adapted or modified according to the place and circumstance
Lord, we give you thanks for the work of the Dombes Group, whose members, theologians from different churches, have been meeting every year for nearly 90 years to reflect and pray together. We bless you for their latest book, a plea for prayer for Christian unity, which urges us to allow ourselves to be renewed and challenged in our calling.
We entrust the work of this group to you and ask you for the grace of acceptance in all our churches and local communities for a profound conversion and a true renewal of our commitment today.
Each year the Siloé Centre in Montagnieu (France, Isère) continues to welcome for varying lengths of time people seeking restoration and inner unity. The Siloé Session is also welcoming around thirty retreatants this year.
Lord, we entrust all these people to you on their journey through life, and we entrust the Siloé mission to you in all our countries.
On December 13 and 14, the Siloé Centre in Montagnieu hosted the Unbound weekend retreat with brothers and sisters from the Community and Communion of Chemin Neuf. Lord, we bless you for your work in our lives and for the truth of your love that sets us free.
Lord, may the fruit of freedom in each person’s life shine ever more brightly in our lives as we follow you together as missionary disciples, continuing to proclaim together the good news of your Kingdom.
As it does every year, the NGO Open Doors published its report in January on Christians persecuted around the world. Today, 388 million Christians are exposed to severe persecution and discrimination because of their faith, representing one in seven Christians worldwide.
Lord, we pray for all those who risk their lives every day in your name, for greater freedom, justice, and peace. We pray especially for the Catholic Church in Mexico, where several priests have recently been murdered.
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)
This week’s service has been prepared by the brothers and sisters of the Community in Nantes.
Reflection text
Christ, the sole foundation of the Church. The exclusivity and inclusivity of Christ.
Excerpt from Gérard Siegwalt’s text published in Revue Irénikon 78 (2005) 1-2, pp. 7-8.
[…] The theme: ‘Christ, the sole foundation of the Church’ affirms, along with the uniqueness of Christ, the unity of the Church: one Christ, one Church of this one Christ!
Let us consider Ephesians 4:3ff: „Strive to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit… there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.‘
Let us also think of the Nicene Creed: ’I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.” Since the early days of Christianity, the affirmation of faith concerning the unity of the Church has been combined with a plurality of Churches: the New Testament uses both the singular ‘Church’ and the plural ‘Churches’.
The one Church of Christ is diversified into particular churches, according to the particular places where it is established. These places are not only geographical (Jerusalem, Antioch, Corinth, Rome, etc.) but also theological: there are the so-called Petrine Churches (or Palestinian Churches, with Jerusalem at their origin), the Pauline Churches (and here there are the early Pauline Churches and the later Pauline Churches of the pastoral epistles), and the Johannine Churches. We know that the coexistence of these different Christian branches was not without tension and even conflict: consider the dispute between Paul on one side and Peter and James on the other. […].
The one Church of Christ has never been a uniform Church; it has always been a plural Church. This is also the affirmation of 1 Corinthians 12, which applies first and foremost to a given ecclesial community: ‘there are different kinds of gifts (charisms), but the same Spirit’; this affirmation can also be applied to the diversity of Churches. In other words: there is no living unity, according to truth and love, without diversity; there is no living diversity, according to truth and love, without unity.
Intercessions
To be adapted or modified according to the place and circumstance
Lord, we give you thanks for the student residence in Nantes entrusted to the Chemin Neuf Community, with young people from different cultures, denominations and religions. With them, we also entrust to you all the young people welcomed into our homes throughout the world. The richness of this diversity opens us up to the greatness and love you have for each one of us.
Come, Holy Spirit, continue to reveal yourself in our life together and give us the grace of unity in all our diversity.
God of peace and communion, we entrust to You the Churches of the East and the Middle East, brought to birth at the very sources of the Gospel and tested by the wounds of time.
We bring before You the religious, the families, and all Christians whose faith may be weakened by fear, exile, violence, and oblivion.
Come, Holy Spirit, give these communities the patience to endure the night; and the hope that does not disappoint. May they be a humble and luminous sign of perseverance, reconciliation and peace for the world.
God of love, we give you thanks for the Evangelical and Pentecostal Churches throughout the world. We entrust to you the pastors, bishops and all those in leadership positions in these Churches.
Come, Holy Spirit, protect and nourish their faithfulness to your Word. Grant these Churches the grace of unity so that the passion to proclaim your Kingdom may spread widely throughout the world.
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)
This week’s service has been prepared by the brothers and sisters of the Community in Poland.
Reflection text
Spiritual Ecumenism
Conversation between Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś and the young people from the Student Chaplaincy “With the Brother” in Krakow, January 19, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXXqxxvLMoI&t=248s
Pope Francis (this is the most important answer) defined ecumenism as an exchange of spiritual gifts. This is in Evangelii Gaudium. An exchange of spiritual gifts, meaning that ecumenism is not about knowing, for example, what Lutherans believe. This is a matter that we study. It is not a question of knowing their opinions. But wanting to draw on the spiritual gifts that are present in this Church and in the people who make up this Church. This means that I am convinced that the Holy Spirit is at work in this Church.
I am curious to know what the Holy Spirit is accomplishing in this Church, because it can also edify me. Ecumenism is an exchange of spiritual gifts; it is not just about mutually understanding each other. This does not contradict the fact that, as a Catholic, I am convinced that the fullness of the Church is found in the Catholic Church. This does not mean that outside the Catholic Church there is an ecclesial void, as John Paul II said. The Church is where the Holy Spirit acts. At Mass we professed our faith and said that we believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
This means: I believe in one Church. The Church is one. Christians are divided among themselves, but the Church is one. The Holy Spirit makes us one Church, in whom we are baptized into one body. It is high time to change our perspective and become aware of what unites us, rather than starting with what divides us.
Intercessions
To be adapted or modified according to the place and circumstance
At the last European Taizé meeting in Paris, from December 28, 2025, to January 1, 2026. The next gathering was announced that it will take place in Łódź1, Poland.
Lord, we pray for all those who participated in this event in Paris. You have sown seeds in the hearts of young people; we pray that you protect these seeds in their daily lives so that they may bear fruit for your Kingdom. We also entrust to you the city and the Church of Łódź so that this gathering in 2026 may be a light in the lives of the local churches and in the life of the city.
[1]Pronounced « /wut͡ɕ/ » or « Woodj »
Ecumenism in Łódź predates the decision of the Second Vatican Council, says Cardinal Ryś, former archbishop of Łódź.
With its multicultural history, Łódź is an ecumenical city where Orthodox Christians, Protestants, Catholics, and Jews have learned to live together. For several years now, the Days of Prayer for Christian Unity have been celebrated for two to three weeks in January, as an extension of the official dates of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Lord, we entrust to you this year’s ecumenical meetings in the city of Łódź and throughout the world. Give every believer an open heart to all brothers and sisters who call upon your name and confess that you are Lord and Savior.
On December 31st, before the Te Deum at the end of the year, to praise God and give thanks, Leo XIV insisted on returning to the profound meaning of the Holy Year experienced in the Catholic Church. In addition, he already encouraged Christians to look foward to another jubilee for Christians: the Holy Year of Redemption in 2033, with the prospect of a return to Jerusalem and the hope that this event would lead to full unity.
Lord, convert our hard hearts, which lack faith, hope, and charity! Teach us to love our brothers and sisters from other churches more, to take a greater interest in other churches, while remaining rooted in our own.
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)
This week’s service has been prepared by the brothers and sisters of the Community in Avranches (North of France).
Reflection text
Spiritual Ecumenism
Spiritual ecumenism refers to the inner heart of the ecumenical movement: the search for Christian unity through prayer, conversion of the heart and holiness of life, rather than primarily through institutional or doctrinal agreements.
Spiritual ecumenism refers to the inner heart of the ecumenical movement: the search for Christian unity through prayer, conversion of the heart and holiness of life, rather than primarily through institutional or doctrinal agreements.
The essential points of this spiritual ecumenism are:
• Common prayer: praying together for the unity willed by Christ („that they may be one”, Jn 17:21).
• Interior conversion: recognizing one’s own limitations, purifying memories, growing in humility and charity.
• The primacy of the Holy Spirit: unity is first and foremost a gift of God before being a human construction.
• Communion lived among us: learning to recognize each other as brothers and sisters in Christ despite confessional differences.
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, the Second Vatican Council (Decree Unitatis Redintegratio) affirms that spiritual ecumenism is „the soul of the entire ecumenical movement”. It inspires and supports theological dialogue and concrete initiatives.
A few concrete examples can be noted:
• The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
• Shared times of prayer or Lectio Divina.
• The common witness of charity and peace.
This spiritual ecumenism is therefore a call to live every day in our life and in our prayer.
Intercessions
To be adapted or modified according to the place and circumstance
Pope Leo XIV visited Lebanon to meet, among others, the Christian Churches and dignitaries of other religions. „Only united in dialogue, respect and fraternity will Lebanon be able to recover its original beauty, the beauty that God has given to this land,” said Leo XIV.
Lord, we entrust to you the land of Lebanon, a land of Christians and Muslims. Let all partisan ideas and any desire for division be set aside so that Christians and Muslims may unite in the same thirst for reconciliation and dialogue.
Pope Leo XIV structured his visit around 4 words: Hope, Unity, Justice and Peace. „Peace on the lips of all Lebanese is a dream that they dare not cherish”
Lord, help the Lebanese, by the power of your Holy Spirit, to mobilize and overcome regional tensions, partisan interests, corruption, and political instability so that this dream of peace is no longer a dream but a reality.
In Avranches two pastors have recently been appointed: one in the Evangelical Church, the other in the Pentecostal Church. Several members of the Chemin Neuf Community successively participated in worship in their churches, with a deep shared joy.
Lord, we entrust to you the different Churches in Sud Manche. May each of us have it in our hearts to go out to meet others in order to know each other better, to be better enriched by our differences and to grow on this path towards Christian unity.
On December 13th, at the Village of Mont Carmel d’Avranches, the 10th anniversary of the Alliance between the Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel d’Avranches and the Community of Chemin Neuf was celebrated, in the presence of Bishop Grégoire CADOR (Bishop of Coutances and Avranches).
Lord, thank you for this alliance that unites our two communities. Continue to accompany us for the years to come by taking care of this unity.
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)
This week’s service has been prepared by the brothers and sisters of the Community in Mehagne (Belgien).
Reflection text
Striving for Peace and Reconciliation
Excerpt from the « Charta Oecumenica » signed in Rome on November 5 2025, p. 18-19.
https://www.ccee.eu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/Charta-oecumenica-PDF-con-guideline-A4-final2.pdf
History demonstrates that war is ineffective at resolving controversies between nations. While non-violent solutions are always preferable, we recognize that we are sometimes confronted with the tragic reality of choosing between allowing violence to continue or using force to end it. As churches, we need to implore peace from God as His gift, acknowledging that peace also needs to be actively built day by day, through works of justice and love.
Peace is not just the absence of war. There is no true peace without fairness, truth, justice, and solidarity. That is why we affirm that war and violence are a defeat for humanity and that only in peace and through peace can respect for human dignity and its inalienable rights be guaranteed. We are converted to peace when we “beat swords into ploughshares” (Isa 2:4).
Christ teaches us to love our enemies (Mt 5:44). Our faith does not allow us to despair of adversaries. We do not equate those who err with their errors, and we do not lose hope for them. Reconciliation includes asking for forgiveness and offering it, as well as agreeing upon appropriate redress. Striving for peace and reconciliation means creating spaces where people of goodwill come together to be ready for sincere and ongoing dialogue, preparing the ground for fresh advances in justice towards the peaceful coexistence of all human beings.
Intercessions
To be adapted or modified according to the place and circumstance
In Brussels, the capital of Europe, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Churches live side by side, along with a hundred Evangelical Churches of diverse cultural origins. Several of them are engaged in projects of community life and houses of prayer.
We pray to you, Lord, to strengthen the spiritual renewal of all these Christian communities through listening, fraternal dialogue, the welcoming of the younger generation, and concern for the poor.May every Christian community in Belgium become a place where God works for unity.
Lord, send your Holy Spirit!
Beginning of November, a gathering was organized by CHARIS (the International Service for Catholic Charismatic Renewal) with Mary Healy, on the theme “Holy Spirit, give everything!” The participants were renewed in the Holy Spirit and in their desire to make God’s love known to all. During this weekend, many young people aged 18 to 35 came forward and they were prayed over by the brothers.
Lord, we bless you for these young people: grant them the grace to be your witnesses in our increasingly de-Christianized society.
We also pray for the young people of the Antwerp dormitory, run by the Chemin Neuf Community, and for all the young people journeying with us in Brussels and Liège.
Lord, send your Holy Spirit!
In recent weeks, Eastern Catholic churches have experienced significant events:
– On October 19, the Armenian Catholics celebrated the canonization of Ignatios Maloyan, one of their bishops, martyred in 1915 after exhorting his faithful to remain steadfast in the faith.
– And on November 15, the Romanian Greek-Catholics welcomed their new Major Archbishop, Claudiu-Lucian Pop, installed in Blaj by the prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.
Lord, we ask you to continue to bless and guide our brothers and sisters of the East, so that their Churches may preserve the faith handed down to them by their ancestors.Lord, send your Holy Spirit!
The Pope’s visit to Turkey for the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea was an opportunity for an ecumenical prayer at the site of the archaeological excavations of the ancient basilica of Saint Neophytos.
Lord, rekindle today in each of our Churches the same Spirit that inspired the conciliar fathers of Nicaea – their desire “to express their faith while seeking what unites.”Lord, send your Holy Spirit!
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)
This week’s service has been prepared by the brothers and sisters of the Community at the Abbey of Notre Dame des Dombes
Reflection text
Extracts from text of the International Theological Commission „Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour„
1700th anniversary of the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea 325 – 2025
Paragraphs 121 – 122
121. The celebration of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea is a pressing invitation to the Church to rediscover the treasure entrusted to her and to draw from it so as to share it with joy, with a new impetus, indeed in a ‘new stage of evangelisation’.[ … ]
122. To proclaim Jesus our salvation on the basis of the faith expressed at Nicaea does not ignore the reality of humanity. It does not turn away from the sufferings and upheavals that plague the world and today seem to undermine all hope. On the contrary, it confronts these troubles by professing the only possible redemption, won by the one who experienced the violence of sin and rejection, the loneliness of abandonment and death, and who, from the very abyss of evil, rose to bring us too in his victory to the glory of the resurrection. This renewed proclamation does not ignore culture and cultures either, but on the contrary, here too with hope and charity listens to them and is enriched by them, invites them to purification and raises them up. Entering into such a hope obviously requires conversion, but first and foremost on the part of those who proclaim Jesus through their life and words, because conversion is a renewal of the mind according to the thought of Christ. Nicaea is the fruit of a transformation of thought that is both implied and made possible by the event of Jesus Christ. In the same way, a new stage of evangelisation will only be possible for those who allow themselves to be renewed by this event, by those who allow themselves to be seized by the glory of Christ, who is always new.
Intercessions
To be adapted or modified according to the place and circumstance
Pope Leo XIV is travelling from 27 November to Tuesday 2 December to Turkey and Lebanon for his first apostolic journey, which will be marked by ecumenism and interreligious dialogue. In Turkey he will make the journey that his weakened predecessor, Pope Francis, was not able to make. Together with Patriarch Bartholomew, they will celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in the same city that hosted the first ecumenical council in Christian history.
Lord, we entrust this meeting to you, may it be an opportunity to promote dialogue, concord and fraternity in the midst of the tumult of violence and war.
On 6 November 2025, an updated version of the European Ecumenical Charter was signed in Rome. This joint document of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE), elaborated and signed by six theologians including our sister Estelle Sogbou, aims to respond to contemporary challenges such as migration, climate justice, digitalisation and the role of young people in the churches.
Lord, we entrust to you all those Churches that are working together to meet the challenges of unity, peace and justice in Europe. May they be a source of creativity and a path of hope for our world today.
The community of Oriental Churches of the region of Bourg en Bresse and Grenoble will for the first time join in the preparation of the week of prayer for Christian unity in January 2026.
Lord, we entrust to you this beginning of a collaboration of the ecumenical team around the Abbey of Dombes with the Oriental Churches so that it may be a fruitful seed for the future of ecumenism in the region.
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)
This week’s service has been prepared by the brothers and sisters of the Community of Marseille.
Reflection text
Excerpt from the Address of His All Holiness Bartholomew I During the Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary of Lourdes Basilica on November 4th
Source : https://eglise.catholique.fr/conference-des-eveques-de-france/cef/assemblees-plenieres/assemblee-eveques-france-novembre-2025/567099-allocution-patriarche-bartholomee-eveques-lourdes/
The Eucumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was invited to address the Bishops’ Assembly of France gathered in Lourdes from November 4th to 9th, 2025
Each year in the month of January, we find ourselves in the week we call “The Prayer for Christian Unity.” The custom is beautiful; the sentiment is just. But is it sufficient? Do we risk creating a symbol among us, a moment where we convene once per year to remember the wound of the schism before going our separate ways as though it were nothing? These words might seem harsh, but it is frightening that sometimes these types of ceremonies do not have the intended result. They become a form of spiritual bureaucracy, a rite fulfilled to assuage the conscience rather than awaken the heart. And yet, prayer for unity cannot be a formality. It should rise up from our depths–like a cry, a supplication born from the pain of the Body of Christ murdered by the division of its members.
And what if each week of the year could be like this? And what if each Sunday, when we gathered in the same place for the breaking of the bread, it became not only the day of paschal joy, but also that of shared pain–the pain of division? When, standing in front of the holy altar, we cannot commune from the same chalice; it is not simply canonically illicit: it is a profound wound. It is a tragedy. It is the sign of a lack of love, a failure of our witness in the world. Here is the true reason for praying for unity: not the words prayed, but the silent suffering of each liturgy celebrated separately. When the schism no longer hurts, it is when we have ceased to love. And when we have ceased to love, it is when we have already died.
Intercessions
To be adapted or modified according to the place and circumstance
The ecumenical committee of Marseille has decided to organize a French-speaking Christian Forum in the next few years. The idea of this Forum arose in different countries through the Ecumenical Council of Churches and seeks to grow and deepen the relationships between brothers and sisters in Christ as well as between Churches which would never, hardly ever, or would have had very little chance of encountering each other.
Lord, we pray that at each phase of their preparation, the members of the community be inspired to forge relationships and invite leaders of Churches which do not usually encounter each other.
The next Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2026 will be prepared by an ecumenical group coordinated by the Armenian Apostolic Church. Christians will assemble at the American Apostolic Cathedral in Marseille for a filmed celebration that will be broadcasted on national television during the “Day of the Lord” program.
Lord, we entrust these meetings of preparation to you so that they may open our hearts to the reality of diversity of these Eastern Churches and grow our brotherly love and desire to receive the gift of unity among our Churches.
From November 27th to November 30th, Pope Leo XIV will travel to Turkey, where he will meet with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Iznik, formerly known as Nicea. “How could we celebrate the first council of the undivided Church now that we are divided?” Patriarch Bartholomew asked during his address in front of the assembly of bishops in Lourdes. He added further, “There, we will not celebrate a victory, but we will confess the wounds of our division”.
Lord, we entrust the Pope’s travel to you: may your work of reconciliation be furthered. May our Churches find the path of dialogue and peace. May this tireless work of dialogue and peace spill over into all of the world.
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)