The Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow, Mario Conti, has issued a pastoral letter to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which takes place next week, 18-25 January.

Ecumenism, which seeks global church unity, is in need of new energy, top Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican leaders have said.

Is Anglicanism in danger of upholding a false kind of unity, asks Savi Hensman. When this involves upholding injustice and cruelty, it can damage not only those on the receiving end but also the cause which is supposedly being championed.

The Vatican official responsible for links with other churches, theologian Cardinal Walter Kasper, has rejected suggestions of a "standstill" in the search for Christian unity.