Reflection by Janelle Malkiewicz, Director of Communications Services
City-Wide Celebration with Church Leaders for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU)
On Sunday, January 19th, various members of the Christian Church community in Winnipeg gathered at Holy Family Ukrainian Catholic Church to celebrate the City-Wide Celebration for the 2025 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This is an annual weeklong event that takes place from January 18-25th. These dates include the liturgical feasts of the Confession of Saint Peter (from some Anglican and Lutheran traditions) and the Catholic feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle. This city-wide worship service is a flagship event for the entire week and includes singing, prayer, scripture readings, and fellowship.
2025 WPCU Theme and Resources
Every year, the WPCU has a theme prepared by a specific community from around the world. This year’s theme was “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26). This event is universal because the creation of these themes and resources is shared worldwide and used by all who choose to participate. This year, the Bose monastic ecumenical community from Northern Italy prepared these resources.
In addition, the theme highlighted the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, from which we have the Nicene Creed. The Council of Nicaea was the first Ecumenical Council – making it a fitting focus for this year’s events. The resources created by the Bose monastic ecumenical community are jointly published with the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches.
City-Wide Ecumenical Choir
An impressive feature of this annual event is the time and effort put into creating a city-wide ecumenical choir. Deacon Michèle Barr of the Lutheran Church of the Cross is the musical director who takes the initiative to gather talented musicians and singers of all Christian faiths to worship together through song. The chosen hymns vary in tradition and language, including German, French, Dutch, and Ukrainian.
The choir included familiar faces from our community, including Benedicte LeMaître, cantor of St. Mary’s Cathedral and music minister at St. Mary’s Academy. This year, she brought six St. Mary’s Academy Choir students to participate in this event.
We also saw music ministry members of Holy Family Ukrainian Catholic Church who participated in the choir and this worship service for the first time. Thank you to everyone for your commitment and talent!
Presider
Since this year’s city-wide celebration was held at Holy Family Ukrainian Catholic Church, Most Reverend Andriy Rabiy, Auxiliary Bishop of the Winnipeg Ukrainian Archeparchy and representative of Metropolitan Lawrence Huculak, presided. Holy Family’s parish priest assisted him – Fr. Volodymyr Bashutskyy.
In the middle of the program, Bishop Andriy gave a profound homily reflecting on the theme and the Nicene Creed. Bishop Andriy reflects pieces of the Nicene Creed to various biblical saints and moments that help us better understand our faith and belief through tangible anecdotes.
God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible
“This is not a distant, uninvolved deity, but a loving Father who actively participates in the creation and sustenance of His universe.” Bishop Andriy reflects, “This foundational truth, affirmed by St. Irenaeus, who emphasized God’s creative power as a demonstration of His goodness, underpins our entire faith.”
The Holy Spirit, the giver of life, the source of our sanctification
“This Spirit, as St. Basil the Great taught, is neither a mere impersonal force, nor a subordinate being, but fully God, co-equal with the Father and the Son. It is this Spirit that guides, strengthens, and unites us as the Body of Christ.” Bishop Andriy affirms.
Passing the Light
One of the striking moments of the celebration was the passing of light throughout the Church. Unlit candles were passed around like those you would find at the Easter Vigil. Bishop Andriy lit his candle first from a candle and then shared the light with his fellow Church leaders. From there, these Church leaders went throughout the church and lit the candles of those present.
What stuck out to me was how Church leaders approached congregation members and lit their candles – regardless of Christian tradition. It was beautiful, uniting, and universal in that way. With our candles lit, we recited the Nicene Creed and prayed prayers of intercession with the response, “We believe, help our unbelief.”
Onward in Unity and Faith
This event is meaningful and brings much hope in a divided world. It is
beautiful to see is how various Church leaders have gotten to know each other during their time in Winnipeg by attending this event. Fr. Robert Polz, pastor of St. John XXIII Roman Catholic Church, is the WPCU Chair.
He pointed out that eleven years ago, this event was one of the first that Archbishop Gagnon attended as Archbishop of Winnipeg, and we celebrated his longstanding support of ecumenical efforts in our city and province.
Acknowledgement is given to the various Church and Christian denominations/traditions who were represented:
- The Anglican Church of Canada (Diocese of Rupert’s Land)
- Christian Reformed Church (Transcona Christian Reformed Church)
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (Bishop of the Manitoba Northwestern Ontario Synod & representation from the Office of the National Bishop)
- Mennonite Church Manitoba (Mennonite Church Canada)
- The Presbyterian Church in Canada (Presbytery of Winnipeg)
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Boniface
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Winnipeg
- The Salvation Army (Prairies and Northern Territories Division)
- The United Church of Canada (Prairie to Pine Region)
- Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg
Congratulations to Fr. Robert and the organizing committee for this annual city-wide celebration! Please mark your calendars, as this event occurs at the same time each year. It’s well worth checking out and participating in!
