Seoul (AsiaNews/CBCK) - The Most Rev. Hyginus Kim Hee-joong, the president of the Committee for Promoting Christian Unity & Interreligious Dialogue of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea(CBCK), issued a message for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."(Matt 18:20) is the title of the message.

In this message the Most Rev. Hyginus Kim affirmed that "the Church must be the first to manifest and bear witness to the sign of unity if she wants to become the sign of the unity between God and man, and among human beings."

He said, "The Catholic Church and the Protestant Church, which are both on the journey to the unity, must perceive that they are called to be the community of common prayer, before they begin to dispute about the different doctrines between them." And he urged that "All Christians must understand that the unity is a grace of God and they have to persistently pray for this grace especially in this week of prayer for Christian unity."

And as the conclusion, he expressed his hope that "Priests and the laity could bear witness to the Christian hope through personal encounter among ministers, unreserved reciprocal visit among the laity, initiation of common prayer, and common measures for the local social agenda."