Translated by: Ksenija Ninić

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this year is being held under the theme “Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power”(Exodus 15,6). Ecumenical celebration, that was organized on the initiative of Council for ecumenism and intereligious dialogue in the cultures of Bishop’s conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was led by the Archbishop of Vrhbosna Vinko cardinal Puljić. Appropriate sermon was said by the High priest Metropolit of Dabrobosna mr. Hrizostom, while with the Apostolic nuncio msgr. Luigi Pezzuto there was a number of Catholic and Orthodox priests and believers, and the Council for ecumenism and intereligious dialogue in the cultures of Bishop’s conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina published a booklet for this occasion.

In his welcoming speech, Cardinal Puljić wished a special welcome to the Metropolit of Dabrobosna Hrizostom and his entourage and Orthodox believers, as well as members of the smaller churches operating in Sarajevo who joined this prayer.

Having said that the materials for this year's The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity were prepared by the Churches from the Caribbean, he recalled the colonial history of Caribbean and the role of Scripture, which has become a source of comfort and liberation to many of the enslaved. “The Bible has so far encouraged believers in the Caribbean to engage in human dignity and better living conditions. When the bonds of slavery fall from our hands, in the mankind family a new union of love and communion emerges, that expresses the unity that our churches pray for”, the cardinal said.

With the Invocation of the Holy Spirit, integral part of worship was through prayer and symbolically showing the liberation from the chains - the enslavement of sins that part a man from God and one from the other. In the name of the assembled, chains as symbols of spiritual and physical slavery were laid out by the three seminarians of Archdiocese’s mission international seminary Redemptoris Mater - Nelson and Nilson from Colombia and Luis Manuel from Peru.

Pointing out that Christians should follow the example of Jesus Christ - to constantly pray and to testify God, in his preaching, the Metropolit of Dabrobosna Mr Hrizostom reminded of the difficult paths of division among Christians and the need for repentance, change and prayer.

„Let us pray to God that this The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity truly is praying, as was Christ's prayer for His Church. Only when we learn the history of His Church through the centuries, we can feel and understand the reasons for starting this Praying octave that we bless and completely support. We pray for Peace and Reconciliation of everybody in our homeland, for our reconciliation and unity in Jesus Christ. We should not lose sight of the fact that we, Christians in Sarajevo are only one drop in the oceans of great, but, unfortunately, divided and disunited Christianity. May our common message be and fly from Sarajevo: 'Let us complete the prayer and blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ and be one with Him and with His Father and the Holy Spirit!'“, said, among other things, the metropolitan of Dabrobosna mr. Hrizostom.

At the end of the service, cardinal Puljić thanked everyone who took part in the prayer and invited the participants to the Ecumenical concert of Christians in Sarajevo’s cathedral on January 20th and to the gathering on January 25th in the Orthodox Cathedral church in Sarajevo where the Prayer for Peace will be held.

He also encouraged the gathered to pray in the spirit of what was proposed for this The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

KT