The ecumenical gestures of Saint Pope John Paul II accompanied his entire pontificate. They were a practical expression of his deep desire to fulfill the will of God clearly expressed in the words of Jesus Christ: “that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me.” (Jn 17:21). This desire is also reflected in his encyclical Ut unum sint (1995) and in the apostolic letters Tertio millenio adveniente (1994) and Novo millenio ineunte (2001). The article analyzes the historical background and immediate events that preceded the ecumenical gesture of the Our Father prayer at the memorial of the victims of the bloody trial of Caraffa, which Pope John Paul II prayed on July 2, 1995 in Prešov together with the bishop of the Eastern District of the Evangelical Church, confession of Augsburg Ján Midriak and the Greek Catholic Bishop of Prešov, Ján Hirka. On the same day, in the morning, the Pope canonized three martyrs from Košice in Košice and prayed at the monument to 24 Evangelical martyrs in Prešov. This gesture of a joint prayer of the Our Father was much more eloquent than over 500 years of ecumenical dialogue.
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No. 22 (2026)
Published: 2026-09-26

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