In an unprecedented act in the country’s religious history, Ecuadorian Cardinal Bernardino Echeverria offered a sermon in the Anglican Church’s El Salvador Cathedral.

The high-ranking Catholic leader spoke at the inaugural service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, held in the Anglican Cathedral. In his vibrant sermon, Cardinal Echeverria praised the ecumenical initiative and emphasized the importance of all Christians working for unity.

“It is the first time that I have participated in a worship service in a non-Catholic Church and I have realized how much we have in common,” said the prelate. He recalled the emphasis that the II Vatican Council placed on ecumenism and underlined the fact that Pope John Paul II exhorted Christians to persevere in prayer and to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit in the search for Church unity.