Christians united in praying together the “Our Father” for the end of the pandemic

At midday today 25 March, when many celebrate the feast of the Annunciation, in an unprecedented gesture, Pope Francis simultaneously with many other Heads of Churches, leaders of Christian communities, and Christians from different traditions, prayed together the “Our Father” for the end of the pandemic. Invoking together their Almighty Father, Christians from East and West, North and South, took part in the initiative, including among many others the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Coptic Pope Tawadros II, the Armenian Patriarch Karekin II, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and other Anglican leaders, Reverend Dr Fykse Tveit of the World Council of Churches, Reverend Dr Martin Junge of the Lutheran World Federation, and Bishop Ivan Abrahams of the World Methodist Council, joined by many leaders of the Pentecostal, Evangelical, and Reformed traditions, as well as Catholics around the world.

In his introduction to the prayer gathering Christians, “of every Church and Community, of every tradition, of every age, language and nation”, the Holy Father invoked mercy on all of humanity in the crisis of the pandemic, recalling the ill and their families, health care workers, civil authorities and law enforcement officers, volunteers, and the ministers of Christian communities. Reflecting on the Annunciation, Pope Francis asked that we too entrust ourselves in hope to the hands of God, praying together with one heart and soul the “Our Father”.