Friday, February 21, 2014
POPE FRANCIS GREETS PROTESTANT PENTECOSTALS
ROME, February 21, 2014 (Zenit.org) - Pope Francis has shown his
enthusiasm for ecumenism through a private video recorded for longtime friend,
Anglican Episcopal Bishop Tony Palmer, which was played at a gathering of
Kenneth Copeland Ministries.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries is a Protestant ministry based in
Texas, founded and directed by Copeland and his wife and children.
In the video message, the Holy Father explains that he and Palmer
have been "friends for years."
After a brief introduction in English, the Pope spoke in Italian
and the video was played with subtitles.
The Pope goes on to speak of joy and yearning -- joy that his
audience has "come together to worship Jesus Christ the only Lord"
and yearning that "this separation comes to an end and gives us communion.
I am nostalgic (yearning), of that embrace that the Holy Scripture speaks of
when Joseph's brothers began to starve from hunger, they went to Egypt, to buy,
so that they could eat."
"We have lot of cultural riches, and religious riches. And we
have diverse traditions. But we have to encounter one another as brothers. We
must cry together like Joseph did. These tears will unite us. The tears of love,"
Francis told the congregation.
The Pope said he spoke as "a brother" and "in a
simple way," inviting them: "Let us allow our nostalgia (yearning) to
grow, because this will propel us to find each other, to embrace one another.
And together to worship Jesus Christ as the only Lord of History."
"I thank you profoundly for listening to me," the Pope
continued. "I thank you profoundly for allowing me to speak the language
of the heart."
And he asked the congregation for prayer, a request that they
granted immediately following the video, as Copeland led the congregation in
prayer, which he described as "prayer in the Spirit," as they spoke
in tongues.
Francis urged: "And let us pray to the Lord that He unites us
all. Come on, we are brothers. Let's give each other a spiritual hug and let
God complete the work that he has begun. And this is a miracle; the miracle of
unity has begun.
"A famous Italian author named Manzoni, once wrote in his
novel, of a simple man amongst the people, who once said this, 'I've never seen
God begin a miracle without Him finishing it well.' He will complete this
miracle of unity. I ask you to bless me, and I bless you. From brother to
brother, I embrace you. Thank you."
After Copeland led the congregation in prayer, himself visibly moved,
he echoed the Holy Father's idea of the "miracle of unity [that] has
begun," saying that when he entered ministry 47 years ago, "this was
impossible."
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