Pope Francis asked the Christian leaders, regardless of their denomination to respond to the pandemic “with [the] universality of prayer, of compassion and tenderness.”
He continued, “Let us remain united. Let us make our closeness felt toward those persons who are the most lonely and tired. In these trying days, while humanity trembles due to the threat of the pandemic, I would like to propose to all Christians that together we lift our voices towards Heaven.”
He invited all Christians to respond to the pandemic by praying the Lord’s Prayer on March 22.
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The Call to Pray
On March 25, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, together with 11 Christian denominations in Scotland, responded to the call. They prayed the Lord’s Prayer at 11 am to occur simultaneously with the Vatican’s saying of the Lord’s Prayer at midday.
Archbishop Welby said in a statement, “When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He taught them the words that we know as the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father. This prayer gives us words to pray even when we don’t know how or what to pray.”
Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Rt Rev Colin Sinclair, joined in the movement.
Support From All Over
“At a time when normal life is falling apart, it is wonderful when Christians come together. The Lord’s Prayer is a wonderfully comprehensive prayer and within it can be found all we need to say. I warmly commend Pope’s call for churches around the world to unite in this way,” he said.
Dr. Josiah Idowu-Fearon, the Secretary-General of the worldwide Anglican Communion, laud the Pope’s call to pray. He asked Christians “across the world, across our languages, across our cultures, across our denominations” to “join together to pray the prayer that Jesus Himself taught us; to pray that God’s will be done.”
He invited all Christians, “Wherever you are on Wednesday, please join us at 11 am GMT- or at midday in your local time- to pray the Lord’s Prayer in your own language.”
Reference: Christian Today
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Christa Monina Gomez wrote this article.