Fr Martin Browne OSB (third from left). 
Ecumenism should be taken far more seriously, an Irish priest has urged, ahead of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Fr Martin Browne OSB, a Benedictine monk based at Glenstal Abbey, Co. Limerick, and a member of the international group tasked by the Vatican and the World Council of Churches with preparing texts for the week, said the annual reminder of the need for ecumenism can be “a wake-up call”.
Ongoing divisions between churches make it all the more important that we do pray for unity, Fr Browne said. “It is the Lord’s will, and Christian disunity is a scandal.
“Realising the unity that is inherent in the Body of Christ will require not just ingenuity and imagination, but conversion and repentance.”
Maintaining that “Christian unity is not an optional extra”, but adding “I don’t think it is considered a priority in many places in Ireland”, Fr Brown concluded that “if we take unity seriously then the Week of Prayer can be a real grace”.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity runs from January 18-25.
