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Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2027

January 18–25, 2027 Every year, January 18–25

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The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity runs January 18–25, 2027. For eight days, churches of many traditions pray for unity with shared readings and a common theme.

Eight Days in January

Every year, January 18 to 25. The span runs from the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter to the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.

Two Episcopal founders started it in 1908, and no single church owns it today. The World Council of Churches and the Vatican’s office for Christian unity publish the materials together each year.

Some regions pick other dates. In 2026, churches in the southern hemisphere were invited to pray from May 17 to 24, around Pentecost.

From a Hillside Convent in 1908

Its first observance came in January 1908, in the chapel of a small Franciscan convent about fifty miles from New York City.

Father Paul Wattson and Mother Lurana White founded it as the Church Unity Octave. Both were Episcopalians then and later became Roman Catholics.

Credit for the idea isn’t settled, though. In November 1907, an Anglican vicar named Spencer Jones proposed a single day of prayer for unity.

Wattson answered with his eight-day plan. Many accounts credit Jones with the spark, while the Atonement friars’ version stresses its founders.

Rome soon backed it. Pope Pius X blessed the octave, and in 1916 Pope Benedict XV extended it to the whole church.

Paul Couturier, a French priest from Lyon, widened it in 1935. His approach let Christians of every church join in, and he kept sending yearly calls to prayer until his death in 1953.

In 1941, the Faith and Order movement moved its own observance to the January octave too.

How the Theme Is Chosen

Pope John XXIII set up the Vatican’s unity office on June 5, 1960. Since 1966, that office has shared the work with the World Council of Churches’ Faith and Order Commission. Each year, one region drafts the text.

An international team then edits it, and churches around the world adapt the result. In the United States, Graymoor’s ecumenical institute has published the texts since 1968.

Ephesians 4 inspired the 2026 theme: “There is one Body and one Spirit.” Armenian churches played a central role in preparing it.

Nicaea’s council turned 1,700 in 2025, and that year’s texts marked the anniversary with a question from John 11:26: “Do you believe this?”

Churches in Ireland prepared the 2027 materials, drawing on Luke 12:32.

Catholic support grew firmer over time. A Vatican directory issued in 1993 urged Catholics to take part.

Everything rests on a single line of prayer. The week draws on John 17:21, “that they all may be one.”

Ways to Take Part

Graymoor’s free kit for U.S. churches includes music, a model prayer service and daily scripture readings.

  • Join a joint prayer service hosted by churches of different traditions in your town.
  • Pray with this year’s daily readings, available free from the WCC and Graymoor.
  • Visit a worship service at a church from a tradition you don’t know well.
  • Hang the year’s poster art in your parish hall or church office.
  • Hand out the prayer cards, which come in both English and Spanish, after a Sunday service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity the same every year?

Yes, for the dates. Its theme and readings change, with a new region preparing them each time.

Is it only for Catholics?

No. Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican churches take part alongside Catholic parishes.

Who promotes it in the U.S. today?

Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement, from the community its founders started.

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