Pilgrim prayer : the new ecumenical prayer cycle

The ecumenical prayer cycle is the annual prayer journey of Christians in solidarity with the people and churches of the whole world, focusing on different countries or regions each week. Available in print and online, the prayer cycle has become a spiritual guidepost of the ecumenical movement, as it enables Christians everywhere to identify and pray with their sisters and brothers around the globe. This edition largely retains the geographic sequence of earlier editions.

It also retains the sequence of elements in each week: an introductory word about each region, intercessions of thanksgiving and petition specific to the context, and a compilation of prayers from the region.

Enhanced by photos and song suggestions, it also adds some thematic sections or weeks as well, centring Christian prayer on some of the most pressing issues that confront global Christianity, from peace to environment to migration to gender relations. This edition also ties the annual circumnavigation in prayer to the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, the ecumenical initiative that asks Christians everywhere to join in transformative work for all humanity.

The ecumenical prayer cycle becomes itself a virtual pilgrimage, a spiritual encounter with the gifts and challenges of Christian churches around the world.