“Just after I was nominated Bishop of the Diocese of Skara (Sweden) in 2012, we decided to hold an ecumenical meeting in the Bishopry on Pentecost day, which is also the anniversary of the 1,000 years of the founding of the Diocese. This event,  inspired by Pope John Paul II and as oftentimes solicited also by the Catholic Bishop Anders, would reunite the representatives of the various churches and Christian movements in the diocese, following the example of other events the Catholic diocese had organised, precisely during the feast of the Pentecost. When I proposed the project, I was quite surprised to see that none of my new team members opposed the idea, but rather – all the directors felt that this experience would be an indispensable step to preparing our millennium celebrations. The reactions of the members of the various Churches, however, revealed to be a conquest.  Many were busy and out of town. Furthermore, the celebration would have coincided with the National Swedish Day. I discovered that Pentecost day plays an important role in the Orthodox tradition, and is a sort of “All Souls Day.” This meant that a single Orthodox member alone could represent the entire family of his Church. We sent the invitations way ahead of time and publicised the event several times. The effort was decisively fruitful. So the meeting was held, and more than 300 Christians of different churches and movements attended, among which, the Focolare Movement. The theme was “Let them speak a thousand tongues” (referring to the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 and to our 1,000th anniversary). Two of the main speeches were given by Swedish theologians like Ylva Eggehorn and Magnus Malm. On Pentecost morning, when I arrived at the Cathedral before the start of the program, many people had already assembled in Church. To my great joy I had the chance to greet the people I knew and meet new friends, comrades in faith. After a brief introduction on the morning’s program, we divided into mixed groups to discuss and reflect about the importance of prayer. The afternoon groups were based according to the cities of origin. The day ended with a celebration in the Skara cathedral. Many were struck by the possibility to meet, regardless of their various faiths and discovered that really we all have a lot in common. We could say that we all needed to communicate more with one another. The communities present were: the Swedish Lutheran Church, the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and some free churches. It was of no importance what Church we belonged to, what mattered was to meet, be together and share our experiences on prayer, and more. It was fundamental to spend this day as brothers and sisters, and beyond all things, with Jesus in our midst. The day instilled in me a new driving force towards the future and we can say that we have taken a step forward in our journey towards unity and that we will continue to walk with the Crucified and Resurrected Lord! Let me underline once again the motto of this meeting, which is a way to reach unity of the Church, unity in our diversity: “Let them speak a thousand tongues.”