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Benedict and Kobia pray together in Rome for Christian unity: At Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

In an ecumenical first, a general secretary of the World Council of Churches took part with the pope in a Rome service to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an observance that began 100 years ago in the U.S.

WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia, a Methodist minister from Kenya, prayed with Pope Benedict XVI January 25 in the ancient basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, where according to tradition the bones of the apostle Paul were buried following his execution by rulers of ancient Rome.