The “Day of Prayer for Christian Unity” in Urmia

May 31 / 2009

Archbishop Thomas Meram speech:

Dear Brother and Sisters,

I would like to praise the Lord for His mercy and for such an opportunity to gather and pray and remember our savior’s word before his passion “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you (John 17:21) in the Holy Church of St Mary .

His Excellency continued, “This is the 13th anniversary of faithful gathering and many may ask what has been accomplished during these years?” The response is, we truly accomplished many objectives, the most important is, we pray together with our hearts closer to each other for a common Holy goal.

Thirteen years might not appear long enough in such a long history of ours, but the most important is our effort to accept and respect each others point of views; also to prevent from blaming each other and recognizing our wrong doing and mistakes.

Church unity is a long and very difficult task; it requires us to open our hearts and minds to allow the Holy Spirit to work within us.

We should always remember that, evil is always at work to prevent us from reaching this Holy goal, but we are not alone since God has promised us that He will never leave us alone until the end.

His Excellency finished His speech by emphasizing on St Paul teachings as he wrote to Ephesians4:2-6 Bear each other in love; keep unity, peace, and love; there is one body, one Spirit, one Jesus, and one God.

Note:

In some countries, Monsignor (or its foreign language equivalent) is the usual style of address for all higher prelates of the Catholic Church below the rank of cardinal or patriarch, including bishops and archbishops. In other countries, particularly English-speaking ones, it is not used for bishops, but only for priests who have received certain specific honorary awards or who hold certain offices.