"Unhappy Situation"

Throughout most of Christendom, from Jan. 18 to Jan. 25, both Protestants and Roman Catholics celebrated a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that the divisions between Christians might speedily be healed.

The prayers were not the same, nor were they said together. There is a Roman Catholic ban on participating in formal worship not specifically Roman Catholic. But for the past ten years an English organization, known as the Church Union, has sponsored "Union of Christendom" meetings, at which, until four years ago, Roman Catholic priests spoke together with non-Catholic clergy and laymen.

In 1946 Britain's Cardinal Griffin forbade priests to speak. This year he also banned the participation of Catholic layman Edward I. Watkin. Highlight of the occasion was a message from Watkin:

"I ... wish to assure you that my thoughts and prayers are with you in your endeavor to promote the reunion of separated Christians by the only method at present universally practicable, namely prayer ... In this unhappy situation, it is not without interest to quote a statement from the highest authority, Pope Pius XII, made last June: 'Show yourselves towards . . . [non-Catholic Christians] as those who differ, rather than as opponents . . . Unite now with them in charity as far as you are able, since you have long been prepared to give them the fullness of truth.' "

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