Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – 17-24 May 2026 - Photo: canva.com
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – 17-24 May 2026
In Australia, Fiji and New Zealand this year, the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity runs from May 17 until May 24. This week of prayer brings people from different Christian faiths to pray for Christian unity, echoing the prayer of Jesus:
“May they all be one. Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you. So that the world may believe it was you who sent me” (John 17:21).
This modern ecumenical celebration stems from a 1908 initiative of two Americans who set up and promoted a week of prayer called the Octave of Christian Unity. There had been other attempts going back as far as 1840 for something similar, but none had taken root. Pope Pius X (1903-1914) gave his blessing, and Benedict XV (1914-1922) urged the Catholic Church to participate. About this time, leaders of Protestant churches were proposing a week of prayer for Christian unity leading to Pentecost Sunday.
The next development came with Abbe Paul Couterier, a French monk. In the 1930s he was able to bring together the Catholic and Protestant approaches by presenting this week of prayer “for the unity of the Church as Christ wills it and in accordance with the means He wills”.
With the setting up in 1948 of the World Council of Churches, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity gradually was accepted and promoted by Christian churches worldwide. Since 1968, resources for this annual prayer time have been produced jointly by the World Council of Churches and the Catholic Church. Different denominations in Australia, Fiji and New Zealand, including the Catholic Church, will be using these resources. In Australia, these resources are adapted and made available through the National Council of Churches, of which the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference is a member.
The 2026 theme is taken from St Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4).
Using the theme, annual resources are prepared by a member church, and for 2026 these will be completed by the Armenian Apostolic Church alongside the Armenian Catholic and Evangelical Churches. These resources can be accessed on the website for the National Council of Churches in Australia under the heading - PRAYER: https://www.ncca.org.au
Resources available include:
* Poster and Prayer Card: Daily Reflections; Order of Service (for group use)
* Background to the Week of Prayer: a booklet with information on preparation, sermon thoughts, past themes, the history of the week, the coming of Christianity to Armenia and its history.
May the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, 2026, find favour with the Trinity.
Columban Fr. Reg Howard lives at St Columban's, Essendon.
