Day Three

It is Day Three on the Prayer Week for Christian Unity. In two hours from now, we will gather for a Prayer Procession starting at the Adventist Church, visiting the Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity and ending with an Ecumenical Prayer Service at the Huopalahti Church (Lutheran). My day will end with the Thomas Mass in Agricola Church where I will have the opportunity to welcome some friends from South Africa.

The prayer week started here in Helsinki on Friday with a vesper at St. Henrik's Cathedral (Catholic). Later on Friday evening there was an International Prayer Night in the Old Church (Lutheran). Yesterday, on Saturday, we celebrated a morning service in the Adventist Church and a moment of Psalm and Prayer Songs in the Uspenski Cathedral (Orthodox).

The weather has been appalling and not many people dared to show up in Uspenski. The biggest challenge for ecumenical relations in Helsinki is, however, the relative lack of enthusiasm on the Lutheran side. And it is hard to be enthusiastic about anything when administration swallows up vision. But generally, we can and should be proud of the long-standing and warm ecumenical relations we have between all Christian churches in Finland.