Ambitions for church unity are unrealistic and are being replaced in practice by local action, national church leaders have said. The heads of the churches responded to questions put to them by the Church Times and the Baptist Times

Reconciliation in the midst of brokenness is the practical theme which thousands of Christians are exploring in the UK and across the world, as the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins.

The world is losing the war against AIDS, says Sister Sheila Flynn, an English-born Irish nun who works with HIV-affected women in South Africa, as she urged churches to mobilise a collective effort to tackle the pandemic.

Pope Benedict XVI and the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) have announced they will meet in Rome on Friday 25 January 2008, at the centennial of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

As millions of Christians throughout the world mark the 100th anniversary of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2008, the central ecumenical event in Geneva has highlighted prayer for unity amidst situations of conflict and distress.

Pope Benedict XVI, leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, has said that Christians should give priority to unity in the global Week of Prayer that runs from 18-25 January. He also commended a peace message from St Augustine.

The history of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is not just about church cosiness, says Kersten Storch. It is about the quest for healing in a divided church and an unjust and unequal world.

The leader of the Taize community has urged tens of thousands of young Christians from Europe who gathered in Geneva at the New Year to organize "vigils of reconciliation" for unity between churches divided from each other.