Ecumenism and its lasting ripple effect

In Rome, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, ecumenism becomes part of daily life, and the streets of the eternal city fill with Christians of all denominations to bring Christian Unity to life. 

Among those present for this week is Abel Punnoose, a 29-year-old Christian from India and a member of the Believers Eastern Church, visiting Rome as part of a delegation from the Bossey Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches. 

For one week, the group has immersed itself in the life of the Catholic Church, meeting Cardinals, praying together, and confronting the differences that still mark Christian communities.

“This is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,” Abel says in an interview with Vatican News. “We are here to understand where we differ, but also to work intentionally towards unity.”

Bossey is not merely an academic institution. It is, Abel explains, a place where ecumenism is lived daily. Students from diverse traditions and countries share not only classrooms, but meals, prayer, and ordinary life.

“In the beginning, the differences are very visible,” he admits. “But over time, you realise that you hold far more in common than what divides you.”

Prayer, he says, becomes the turning point. “Coming together in spiritual life gives fuel to unity. It is not an easy journey—we have difficult days—but with commitment and genuine intention, lived ecumenism becomes possible.”