For several decades, we have seen the barriers coming down and increasing cooperation and friendship between Catholics and Protestants. This did not begin with scholarly theological discussions and formal retractions of some of the anathemas used against each other in the past. It began in a more practical way. It began in the trenches of the pro-life movement where Catholics and Protestants found themselves together because of shared devotion to the sanctity of human life. It strengthened in the struggle to protect marriage and now in the struggle to defend religious liberty.

It’s the ecumenical dog that doesn’t bark. We need him to bark, but he rarely does, and then he's quickly shushed. It’s the matter of conversion. When we pray for Christian unity, as we do this week, we pray not only for kindness and fellow-feeling and some very foggy idea of joining together in the future, after a gradual convergence somewhere in the middle. We pray for our separated brethren to give in.

Archbishop Longley says Catholic life is 'missing something' without it

The Pope says unity will come through 'walking together', not as a miracle

Pope reflects on Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at general audience

At his weekly general audience the Pope reflects on the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which begins today

Catholic and Anglican bishops lead service in Bishop's Cleeve, Gloucestershire

St Joseph’s church in New Malden, Surrey, hosts a service to mark the close of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity