September 16, 2015:
Move Over Evangelicals, the Roman Catholic Church Has Risen to the Top
Jul 6, 2014 | Bruce Gourley
COMMENT: Bruce Gourley is online editor. In addition to managing Baptist Today’s web presence, Bruce is the executive director of the Baptist History and Heritage Society (baptisthistory.org), general editor of the Baptist History & Heritage Journal, editor of the Baptist Studies Bulletin, creator and author of the "Baptists and the American Civil War Project" (civilwarbaptists.com), and author of seven books. Bruce is also an avid hiker, owns the Yellowstone Net website (yellowstone.net), and is an award-winning photographer (brucegourley.com). A graduate of Mercer University (B.A.), Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and Auburn University (Ph.D.), he and his family live near Bozeman, Montana. |
American evangelical Protestant Christianity, largely shunned by the millennial generation, is rapidly fading. Even the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in America, has now experienced an unprecedented seven straight years of decline. While the traditionally conservative, evangelical Christian Right remains powerful and visible by virtue of its alliance with the Republican Party, the movement’s Christian nationalist agenda has not staunched the attendance decline in evangelical churches.
Meanwhile, amidst a decade of Protestant evangelical struggles, the Roman Catholic Church slowly, persistently and strategically has grown in stature and importance in American religious life.
Gradually admitting that working together would yield better results, evangelicals and the Roman Catholic Church began putting aside theological differences in order to influence sex in America. The working relationship that developed resulted in a 2009 document entitled, The Manhattan Declaration. Although the 150 authors were primarily prominent evangelicals (ministers and politicians), 50 sitting Roman Catholic bishops, archbishops and cardinals also signed the document.
Click on Link:
https://baptiststoday.org/move-over-evangelicals-the-rcc-has-risen-to-the-top/
Francis and the Evangelicals
Louie July 12, 2014
COMMENT: Pope Francis effectively continues the work of his predecessors in creating a single church, while retaining the superficial corporate independence. |
On June 24th Pope Francis hosted a three hour luncheon with nine prominent evangelical Protestants. Recent reports claiming to offer shocking details about the private meeting are making their way around the web causing considerable angst among traditionalist Catholics.
The Holy Father’s passion for authentic ecumenism flows from the heart of a seasoned pastor who has spent many years of priestly and episcopal ministry in building bridges, not walls. What he does now as Bishop of Rome is in continuity with his ministry in Argentina, and in perfect harmony with the message of the Second Vatican Council and the teaching of the Church.”
The most disturbing report comes from luncheon participant Brian Stiller, Global Ambassador of the World Evangelical Alliance, who alleged on the WEA blog that Pope Francis said:
“I’m not interested in converting Evangelicals to Catholicism. I want people to find Jesus in their own community. There are so many doctrines we will never agree on. Let’s not spend our time on those. Rather, let’s be about showing the love of Jesus.”
Click on Link:
https://harvestingthefruit.com/francis-and-the-evangelicals/
Pope Francis: A new stage in relations between Catholics and Evangelicals
06/11/2014 12:16
COMMENT: Francis’ idea is, ignore the theological differences, while uniting upon those issues that are agreeable, and accept the Pope as head of all faiths. The next three articles clearly support this agenda. |
(Vatican Radio) In a meeting on Thursday with a delegation from the World Evangelical Alliance, Pope Francis expressed his confidence that the Holy Spirit “can inaugurate a new stage in the relations between Catholics and Evangelicals—a stage that allows us to realize more fully the will of the Lord to bring the Gospel even to the furthest ends of the earth.”
The Holy Father frankly acknowledged the presence of divisions among Christians “from the beginning,” and noted that “rivalries and conflicts” continue between Christian communities. “Such situations,” he said, “weaken our capacity to fulfil the command of the Lord to preach the Gospel to all nations.” Christians would be able to better proclaim the Gospel if they could overcome their differences so that, together, they might spread the Word of God and witness to Christian charity.
Pope Francis said he was pleased to learn of efforts in various countries to build better relations between Catholic and Evangelicals. He pointed especially to the work of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Theological Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance. The Holy Father also expressed his hope that a joint document, “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct” might “become a motive of inspiration for the proclamation of the Gospel in multi-religious contexts.
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Evangelicals, Vatican reach accord on proselytizing
Francis X. RoccaReligion News Service | Jun. 29, 2011
WASHINGTON -- Christian missionaries should renounce all “deception and coercive means” of winning converts, according to an agreement released Tuesday (June 28) by a broad coalition of evangelicals, the World Council of Churches and the Vatican.
The WCC, the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) together “represent over 90 percent of the world’s total Christian population,” according to a WEA statement, which hailed the accord as the “first document of its kind in the history of the church.”
Click on Link:
http://ncronline.org/news/evangelicals-vatican-reach-accord-proselytizing
Evangelizing evangelicals – why Pope Francis loves to meet with charismatic movements
By EWTN News Vatican Observer, Andrea Gagliarducci
Vatican City, Jul 3, 2015 / 12:38 pm
CNA/EWTN News.- Pope Francis’ attendance for the second consecutive year at the Catholic charismatic movement’s Renewal with the Spirit convocation shows his attention to charismatic movements as means to foster ecumenical path.
During the meeting with Pope Francis’ in St. Peter’s Square, prayers were raised by Cardinals Kurt Koch and Leonardo Sandri, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity and Prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches; the Anglican Archbishop David Moxon, who represents the Archbishop of Canterbury toward the Holy See; and Msgr. Barnaba El Soryani, Coptic-Orthodox Bishop, as a delegate of Theodore II, Patriarch of Alexandria.
Also present were Msgr. Athanasisu Matti Shaba Matoka, Syriac-Catholic archbishop emeritus of Baghdad; His Eminence Polycarpus Eugenio Aydin, vicar of the Syriac-Orthodox diocese of the Netherlands; Rev. Louie Giglio, from the Passion City Church of Atlanta; Jonas Jonsoon, from the Lutheran Church of Sweden; and Giovanni Traettino, president of the Evangelical Church for Reconciliation in Italy.
This varied presence aligns with Pope Francis’ commitment to ecumenism. Beyond the recently opened dialogue with Orthodox and Anglican Churches, the Evangelical world is a big challenge for ecumenism, and perhaps one of the most important ones.
