Pope Francis at the Vatican, on Oct. 9, 2017. Andreas Solaro—AFP/Getty Images
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December 14, 2017December 14, 2017 by Stefan Bos
VATICAN
CITY, VATICAN (BosNewsLife)-- Pope
Francis and leaders of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) group agreed
Thursday, December 14, to cooperate on tackling the "worst
persecution" of Christians in church history despite "major
theological differences", officials said following talks in the Vatican.
“We want to see this world to be a place where peace, justice and righteousness
reign”, said Bishop Efraim Tendero, the secretary general of WEA. His WEA
involves Protestant Churches in 129 nations representing more than 600 million
evangelical Christians worldwide. Thursday's meeting with the leader of the
world's one billion Catholics was aimed at increasing cooperation between the
Catholic Church and evangelicals, he explained.
Tendero said he was bringing to Francis a “call for closer partnership” in
protecting religious freedom, promoting the distribution of Bibles and
addressing social justice issues. The WEA leader wants to see a world “where
everyone has a decent standard of living, and where Jesus Christ is recognized
as Lord of all.”
Also attending the papal audience was Reverend Thomas K. Johnson, the WEA’s
religious freedom ambassador to the Vatican. He stressed there was an urgent
need to join forces to combat the increasing persecution of Christians
worldwide. "The problem is not confined to one particular area of the
globe," he said, adding that the last three years may have seen "the
worst persecution in the whole history of the Christian Church."
One in 12 Christians today experiences high, very high or extreme persecution
for their faith, according to rights activists and researchers. At least 215 million
Christians face severe persecution, with 100 million of those living in
Asia, said Open Doors, a respected advocacy group. Many Christians are also
known to have died for their faith including in the Middle East and Africa
where Islamic State militants have beheaded Christians.
INTERNATIONAL CONSULTATION
Johnson recalled, "the important international consultation" that
took place two years ago in the Albanian capital, Tirana, on
"discrimination, persecution, and martyrdom." Officials of the WEA,
the Vatican, the World Council of Churches and the Pentecostal world discussed
ways of responding to the problem “in a unified manner.”
While Johnson admitted there were "still problems of discrimination
between Evangelicals and Catholics in some countries" he stressed that
Evangelicals have always been made to feel “very welcome in the Vatican”.
As a philosophy professor and human rights specialist, he is mainly focused on
Catholics and Evangelicals publishing “education materials that we’ve
developed together”. He said Thursday’s meeting with the pope was part of small
steps that can lead “to a broader coalition over the years” and reinforce
the message that “Christians of all varieties need to be protecting each other
in the public square.”
Bishop Tendero noted that the WEA and a group of the pope's top advisors known
as the Pontifical Council just completed seven years of dialogue, culminating
in a joint document on Scripture and Tradition. While significant theological
differences remain, it’s increasingly important to “look for a common
agenda,” rather than “focus on what differs and what pulls us apart,” he
told Vatican Radio.
Before his appointment as head of the WEA, Bishop Efraim served for over 20
years as national director of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches
and as president of the Philippine Relief and Development Services, working to
support the poor and needy. While realizing that 80 percent of the
Philippines population is Catholic, Tendero called relations with the Catholic
Church very good. He said he was recently asked to address a retreat for
the Filipino bishops conference.
The WEA leader said there was also a robust, practical cooperation on issues
such as human trafficking, combating climate change, fighting corruption, promoting
peace, and providing relief and development for victims of the many typhoons
affecting the region.
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