January 23, 2009 – Toledo, OH –The Diocese of Toledo will host an ecumenical prayer service at Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral on Sunday, January 25th at 3 p.m. The service marks both the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.  The Very Reverend Michael R. Billian, Episcopal Vicar and Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese and Pastor Timothy Philabaum of Zoar Lutheran Church in Perrysburg will preside over the service.

A combined ecumenical choir of children from St. Rose Catholic parish in Perrysburg and Zoar Lutheran will sing before and during the service.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites the whole Christian community throughout the world to pray in communion with the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” (John 17:21). Sunday’s ecumenical prayer service invites all Christians in Northwest Ohio to join together in prayer and thanksgiving as we celebrate the life and evangelization of the Apostle Paul.

The Diocese of Toledo will start celebrating the Year of St. Paul with this Sunday’s service, and will continue its celebration of the Pauline Year by offering prayer cards, plenary indulgences, and by establishing pilgrimage parishes throughout the Diocese where groups can travel to and pray. June 28, 2008- June 29, 2009 marks the Year of St. Paul in celebration of the bimillenium of his birth.

New and expanded secure parking facilities are now available at Rosary Cathedral. For more information, please contact the Cathedral office at 419-244-9575.

The Diocese of Toledo, established April 15, 1910 encompasses 8222 square miles in a mixture of urban and rural areas that spans 19 counties across Northwest Ohio, serving 306,532 Catholics. The diocese includes Allen, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Huron, Lucas, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert, Williams, Wood and Wyandot counties.

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