Catholic World News – July 14, 2014. Pope Francis said he will preach in a Pentecostal church in Rome this month and offer an apology, the global ambassador of the World Evangelical Alliance stated on his blog.
Brian Stiller, who met with Pope Francis in June, wrote:
We talked about Christians marginalized, pressed under the weight of government power or the majority presence of other faiths. He listened and then told a remarkable story. In his years in and out of Rome, he became friends with the pastor of a Pentecostal Church in Rome. In time he came to learn that the church and pastor felt the power and presence of the Catholic Church, with its weighty presence, obstructing their desire to grow and be a witness. “So,” he said, “this July I will preach in his church on a Sunday and offer an apology from my church for the hurt it has brought to their congregation.”
Stiller also quoted Pope Francis as saying, “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.”
