Today, 18 January 2005, Christians around the world will be united in celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The week of prayer is held from January 18-25 to cover the days between the feast of St Peter and the feast of St Paul, and occurs annually to bring together Protestant, Anglicans and Catholics under the similar goal of Christian union.

Celebrations, in fact began on Sunday as Christians around the world rejoiced at the upcoming occasion.

Pope John Paul II said on Sunday, "I invite every community to make meaningful gestures and ecumenical dialogue and to implore God for the gift of full unity of all Disciples of Christ."

Also aiding in building up the event was the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rev Rowan Williams. He urged Anglicans across the globe to enter into and be active in ecumenical dialogue.

Each year, the traditional gathering of denominations sees the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Roman Catholic Church provide materials for the theme of the week of prayer, which aim to guide individual worshippers, and church bodies over the week.

This year’s week of prayer will follow theme, "Christ, the One Foundation of the Church", which is a clear reference from 1 Corinthians 3:1-23.

Materials for the event have been for the first time, not only jointly prepared by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU)/Catholic Church and Faith and Order/World Council of Churches (WCC), but have also been jointly published by them, said Samuel Kobia, General Secretary for the WCC, and Brian Farrell, Secretary for the PCPCU.

Information and full details of the week are available by clicking on the WEBSITE