How (Pope) Francis Is Befriending the Pentecostals

Chiesa ^ | November 19, 2014 | Sandro Magister

[Steve_Seattle]

"Not when St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans. The same holds true today."

Paul's letters were not written as scripture, they were written to address specific issues in the communities he had founded. I think it's an open question whether he would today be more inclined to see his influence reflected more accurately in Catholic or in evangelical communities.

[Coleus]

does that mean he’s “saved”?

[MamaB]

Amen. Who cares what Bible believing group leads people to Jesus? Are people really concerned about that?

[tbw2]

The Catholic church could pick up a lot of conservative Christians who feel lost in their liberal Protestant denominations, especially if it demotes and denounces the Catholic socialists, like those who demand open borders and government sponsored healthcare.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

"The converts to the "evangelical" communities turn out, in fact, to be much more dynamic in propagating the Christian faith. And there is also a difference in helping the poor. While the Catholics assist them and that's it, the "evangelicals" are not only more active in works of charity, but also do not miss the opportunity to preach the Christian faith to the poor."

Wow. They are doing what Christ commanded. And yet it isn't celebrated in Rome. Don't see that in the NT Church.

[Terry L Smith]

So, this pope guy is sure acting like a friendly BORG to the Pentecostals, who i have heard, call him the representative of satan on earth.

IF there is any sort of cooperation and hand shaking between these two groups, look out.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

"I tried to swim the Tiber, but I was blocked by millions of Hispanic Christians swimming the other way! I could almost walk across the Tiber on their backs."

[GreyFriar]

My question, which in this forum is mainly rhetorical, is:

Why are Catholics in South America being drawn to the Pentecostal churches? Are they finding their spiritual needs fulfilled by the Pentecostals in a way that the Roman Catholic church is not meeting those needs?

I don’t have the answer to those two questions. And don’t want a “food fight” by folks speculating.

[Kackikat]

Yeah LOOKOUT...SOMEONE MIGHT GET SAVED!

Please do no reply...because “swine only turn and rend you when pearls are offered”

[Kackikat]

“Are they finding their spiritual needs fulfilled by the Pentecostals in a way that the Roman Catholic church is not meeting those needs?”

No it isn’t the Pentecostals meeting those needs, it is the HOLY SPIRIT in them that does a great work.

[Alex Murphy]

With the mastery for which it is known all over the world, the Washington-based Pew Research Center has conducted a survey on a massive scale that gives substance to a fact that was already known in general terms, the startling decline of Catholic membership in the Latin American subcontinent....Today the proportion of Catholics is 23 points lower, at 69 percent of the population. The negative record belongs to Honduras, where Catholics have dropped to under half, from 94 to 46 percent. To get an idea of how sharp the decline has been, it should be enough to think that it has taken place entirely within the time span of the episcopal ministry of Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, archbishop of Tegucigalpa and coordinator of the eight cardinals called by Pope Francis to assist him in the governance of the universal Church.

The collapse in the number of Catholics has been accompanied everywhere by the exuberant growth of "evangelical" and Pentecostal Christians, of Protestant descent. This was known too, but the Pew Research Center has highlighted that those who are passing from one membership to another are not usually the most lukewarm in their faith, but the most fervent. The converts to the "evangelical" communities turn out, in fact, to be much more dynamic in propagating the Christian faith. And there is also a difference in helping the poor. While the Catholics assist them and that's it, the "evangelicals" are not only more active in works of charity, but also do not miss the opportunity to preach the Christian faith to the poor.

Ping to some interesting statistics, in light of an earlier conversation.

[Terry L Smith]

dear kack,

I WAS a pentecostal years back, so i can reply all i want, dipstick!

[Iscool]

In so doing, they ignore the very scripture they proclaim: Thus I aspire to proclaim the gospel not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on another's foundation, but as it is written: "Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him shall understand." Romans 15:20-21

If your first pope Peter and Paul could ignore that scripture why not your last pope and a Protestant preacher???

[Kackikat]

Yes, I know about the ‘unforgiveable sin’ meaning that you threw away the most important thing (the nine gifts of the spirit) that God could give you. So I am NOT the dipstick, you are!

[GreyFriar]

Yes, we as Christians need to focus on our shared belief in Jesus and our acceptance of salvation from Him.

I like this line his Pope Francis’ statement: “We are sinning against the will of Christ, because we are looking only at the differences. But we all have the same baptism, and baptism is more important than the differences. We all believe in the Father, in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. We all have within the Holy Spirit who prays, “now” for us, the spirit who prays in us.”

As another theologian said: “We are not the only Christians, we are Christian only.”

[Iscool]

I’m a Pentacostal. I don’t care if someone comes to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through the Assemblies of God, the Roman Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Southern Baptist Church, the Syrian Coptic Church, the small non-demoninational Church in a storefront downtown, or the big mega-Church out on the highway.

Perhaps you have missed it...You must be a Catholic to come to that saving knowledge...In fact, you don't have to come to a saving knowledge according to their pope and magisterium...All you need is to get baptized in water, according to their religion...

The truth is, those who leave the Catholic religion who go to another denomination are searching for that biblical saving knowledge that is not taught in the Catholic religion...

[Iscool]

The book of ACTS when 3000 where filled with Holy Spirit, and each spoke in tongues

Let's not make stuff up...We all know you do not have scripture to back that up...

[GreyFriar]

“it is the HOLY SPIRIT ....” Good point

[NKP_Vet]

Francis is the only pope in 2,000 years that has said there is no need in conversion to the Catholic faith. No kidding. Pope Nice just wants to “get along” and not cause any waves so he preaches heretical nonsense. If there is no reason to convert why have a Catholic Church, which was built on the Truth of the Gospel. The One, True, Apostolic faith. Francis has a hard time coming to grips with that.

[NKP_Vet]

“The Catholic church could pick up a lot of conservative Christians who feel lost in their liberal Protestant denominations”

It does, by the thousands every day. Catholicism is growing, protestantism is shrinking.