ROME (LifeSiteNews) — Male and female clerics of the Lutheran, Greek Orthodox, and Catholic Churches joined in an ecumenical pilgrimage across Rome last night, praying for Christian unity in their respective churches.
Attended by religious leaders of various creeds – including the Catholic Church, the Lutheran church, the Greek Orthodox – an ecumenical pilgrimage took place through the streets of Rome on Thursday night, with participants joining in a call for increased unity between their churches.
“Today, gathered here as a community of Christians, we are gathered from different cultures and denominations to celebrate our common faith,” said Bishop Paolo Ricciardi, an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Rome since his appointment by Pope Francis in 2017.
NOW: 🧵An ecumenical pilgrimage going between the Lutheran church, Orthodox church & a Catholic church is happening now in Rome
Sponsored by the Diocese of Rome, it’s part of Christian Unity Week
Leaders of various creeds each leading prayers, male & female.@LifeSite on site pic.twitter.com/vQeaxwt6RO
— Michael Haynes 🇻🇦 (@MLJHaynes) January 23, 2025
The ecumenical vigil formed part of a week-long series of official events sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Rome, marking the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Concluding the week, and forming the ecumenical highlight, will be the Pontifical Vespers on Saturday, presided over by Pope Francis and joined by a plethora of ecumenical delegates.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, from January 18 through 25, has become an occasion for an increasing variety of ecumenical ventures between Catholics and members of others creeds. While such events take place on a more local level, those in Rome are afforded a particular significance, not least due to the role the Pope plays by virtue of his own participation.
Thursday’s ecumenical pilgrimage began at the Lutheran Evangelical church of Rome, before walking through the streets in a candle-lit procession to the Greek Orthodox church belonging to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, before concluding at the Catholic church of St. Camillo de Lellis.
Alongside Ricciardi (who was the leading Catholic prelate in attendance) the event also drew: Dr. Ian Ernest, the outgoing representative of the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury in Rome; Mirella Manocchio, the female pastor of Rome’s Lutheran church and president of the work of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Italy; Matthew Laferty, the director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome, who has responsibility for the World Methodist Council’s relationship with the Holy See; Archimandrite Simeon Katsinas, of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Each church stop saw ecumenical leaders read a Gospel passage, deliver a brief homily-style reflection, and a series of petitions invoking divine assistance in fostering further unity.
At the Lutheran church, Manocchio delivered her homily to the congregation, marking her out as the lead female religious leader amongst the group.
An oil lamp was also lit inside the Lutheran church, and carried in procession to each church, where it was handed over to the respective religious leaders, followed by the sign of peace between all.
Such gifts represented “light and hope,” said Monsignor Marco Gnavi, who leads the Office for Ecumenism and Religious Dialogue of the Diocese of Rome. “This offering of gifts also represents circularity, sharing and diversity in the same faith,” he added.
Once in the Catholic church, the participants jointly recited the Our Father using the customary Protestant version, which ends with the line “for thine is the kingdom, the power and glory, for ever and ever.” They also recited the ecumenical version of the Nicene Creed.
The ecumenical procession has arrived at Catholic church of St Camillo de Lellis.
They recite the Our Father, using the Protestant-favored translation, which ends with “for thine is the kingdom, the power & the glory.”
They recite the ecumenical version of the Nicene Creed pic.twitter.com/4F1UOhQFxM
— Michael Haynes 🇻🇦 (@MLJHaynes) January 23, 2025
Scripture readings and prayers were centered on the theme of Christ’s conversion with Martha, which Gnavi said was a “central theme” in the current age.
Explaining why, he said that “not only the Churches but also the people must face many expressions of real death, which also means division, separation, up to conflict and the massacre of the innocents. … The dialogue between Jesus and Martha shows how in every man and every woman there is a question, implicit or explicit, of faith.”
Much attention has also been paid to the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea which occurs this year. The year 2025 is a rare occurrence in that the See of Rome and those of the East celebrate Easter on the same date, which has in turn given further motivation to the ecumenical bodies of both parties. Gnavi cited the Nicaea anniversary in relation to this year’s Christian Unity Week.

Despite the significant anniversary of Nicaea, this year’s events for Christian Unity Week are notably less prominent than in 2024. This is likely due in no small part to the scandal-driven resignation of the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, in recent weeks. Welby was a leading figure in the ecumenical events last year, even receiving Pope Francis’ permission to celebrate and Anglican “Eucharist” in an ancient Catholic basilica in Rome.
READ: Archbishop of Canterbury leads ‘Anglican Eucharist’ in Catholic basilica with Pope’s approval
Anglican Evensong was also celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica as part of last year’s proceedings. This year, such events have been noticeably absent. Apart from Thursday’s processional vigil, the official ecumenical proceedings linked to the Diocese of Rome have been largely limited to a nightly ecumenical vespers with various Christian bodies, in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
Contrary to the Vatican’s contemporary approach to ecumenical relations is the Church’s traditional teaching and approach to interreligious relations. Indeed, in Pope Pius XI’s 1928 encyclical Mortalium animos, Catholic participation in Protestant ceremonies or “assemblies” was expressly forbidden. Pius XI wrote:
… it is clear that the Apostolic See cannot on any terms take part in their assemblies, nor is it anyway lawful for Catholics either to support or to work for such enterprises; for if they do so they will be giving countenance to a false Christianity, quite alien to the one Church of Christ.
He added that the Gospel-style of unity involves return to the Catholic Church:
The union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it, for in the past they have unhappily left it. To the one true Church of Christ, we say, which is visible to all, and which is to remain, according to the will of its Author, exactly the same as He instituted it.