Vatican City, Jan 25, 2012 / 12:15 pm
Jesus’ “priestly prayer” at the Last Supper for Christian unity should inspire Catholics to pray and work for it, Pope Benedict XVI said on Jan. 25.
“His priestly prayer can thus be seen as instituting the Church, the community of the disciples who, through faith in him, are made one and share in his saving mission,” the Pope said at his weekly general audience.
He also urged Catholics to pray “for the gift of the visible unity of all Christ’s followers, so that the world may believe in the Son and in the Father who sent him.”
The Pope addressed his remarks to thousands of pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on today’s Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, the day that brings the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity to a close.