The “secret” meeting of Pope Francis in Caserta

(Rome) On 26 and 28 July, Pope Francis is equal to two times in Caserta. On Saturday a public visit for the Catholics of the southern Italian diocese. To meet on Monday to a “private visit” his “friend” Giovanni Traettino, an evangelical pastor.

On the question of Catholic-evangelical dialogue, the lawyer, sociologist of religion and former OSCE representative against the discrimination and persecution of Christians, Massimo Introvigne wrote an essay, which contains some interesting information on the historical development and current issues. The intertitles are from the editorial staff.

The “secret” meeting of Pope Francis in Caserta

by Massimo Introvigne

In 1996 I published for the publishing house of Friars Minor Messaggero Padova a book entitled “Aspettando la Pentecost. Il quarto ecumenismo “(waiting for Pfingten. Fourth Ecumenical), including an interview with Giovanni Traettino. The interview-book found in the Catholic charismatic circles and among the Protestants of Italy a considerable response. In it, I did, of course, in consultation with the interviewee, a dialogue public, at which I had participated in the vorgegangenen years and had taken place away from the media spotlight and the “official” ecumenism between a significant part of the Catholic Charismatic world and some Protestant Pentecostals . In the same year Pastor Traettino made ​​the dialogue in the magazine Charisma known, the most widely read publication of the Pentecostal and charismatic world of the United States.

Thus began a long road that led over the Buenos Aires of the then Cardinal Bergoglio and July 28 will culminate in the first private visit of a pope to a pastor of the Pentecostals. On this day, Pope Francis will go to a “Tutorial” with Traettino to Caserta. There he will be two days in advance and pay a visit to the public on July 26, which had been agreed according Vatikanisten so as not to convey the impression that he would be rude to the Catholics of Caserta. This could have the impression that the Pope is thinking with a view to their city especially to the Protestants.

Why the Pope visited a pastor of the Pentecostal and put an to displease some Catholics, but also some Pentecostals and ultra-conservative Protestants, the negative attitude towards ecumenism and on the internet already of a “scandal” and a “disgrace” and an implicit recognition speak of the role of the Pope by Traettino? In order to answer this question is to first tell a story in which – as indicated – I also played a small role. But above all, it is important to remember who the Protestant Pentecostals.

Who are the Protestant Pentecostals?

Pentecostalism is a new form of Protestantism that arose in the early 20th century, after it has been prepared in the decades before. It is characterized by a distrust of the existing Protestant denominations and organizations, “sleepy” as applicable and not well suited to inspire and evangelize. And by special attention to phenomena charismatic Art In particular, discovered the Pentecostals – rightly would have to speak of a rediscovery, since there was no lack of preceding both Protestant and Catholic examples – the “gift of tongues” or glossolalia, which is not to to speak foreign languages, but to make sounds and words by themselves, do not match any known language and become part of the prayer. For the Pentecostals is the gift of speaking in tongues evidence that the believer has received the “Spirit baptism” that is not a sacrament, but a compelling and engaging experience of the encounter with Christ in the Spirit.

It is no exaggeration when one finds that the Protestant Pentecostalism experienced a phenomenal growth. From a few thousand followers in a few places in the United States and Britain in the early 20th century, their followers are now estimated to be more than 600 million, almost a third of more than two billion Christians worldwide, or nearly three-quarters of the 800 million Protestants. Arose in protest against the organized communities, also have the Pentecostals, as always develops in such cases in the history of Christianity, denominations. Some of them are very large, such as the Assemblies of God , which include 35 million believers worldwide and are represented in Italy with more than a thousand local communities and 150,000 believers. They represent about half of the Protestant Pentecostal movement in Italy, which has a total of 313,000 worshipers.

The Evangelical Church of Reconcilation of Giovanni Traettino

Both in the world as well as in Italy followed the first Pflingstler wave originated in the large denominations, a second wave, who prefers to organize themselves into small communities that may join together in federations, but each group has a large degree of autonomy reserves. In Italy, a little more than half of the Protestant Pentecostals belongs to this second area. This includes the Evangelical Church of Reconciliation (Evangelical Church of Reconciliation), resulting from the merger of Internazionale Movimento Evangelico Rivers di Potenza (Evangelical international movement Rivers di Potenza) and the Centro Italiano di Communion Restaurazione (Italian Centre Community and restore) emerged and the beginning of the 80s was founded by Giovanni Traettino, a Baptist pastor. Following a political experience in the former Italian Communist Party (PCI), he came into contact with Protestantism and finally in England with the Pentecostal movement in 1977 where he received the “Spirit baptism”.

At the beginning of the encounter of the two aforementioned Pentecostal charismatic phenomena are the Dales Bible Weeks in England, where, among others, in 1977, some participants (especially children) claimed to have seen angels flying over the great hall where the meetings took place. In 1978 he took part because Geoffrey Allen, an English missionary Anglican origin, worked in Italy since 1971. He should play a central role in the emergence of Evangelical Church of Reconciliation play, with whom he still works today. The Community of Pastor Traettino is now in Italy 25 small communities and about a thousand worshipers.

1960s: expansion of the charismatic phenomenon at Episcopal and Catholic

In the 60s it was in the U.S. to a new phenomenon, then the whole world spread: Under the influence of Protestant preachers, missionaries and theologians, the “spirit baptism” and the experience of glossolalia began in 1960 under the Episcopalians, the expand the U.S. branch of the Anglican and 1967 among Catholics (and later the Orthodox should follow). This Episcopalians and Catholics do not want to change their religious identity and Protestant Pentecostals, but also integrate some forms of prayer and spirituality in their original identity. For Catholics, the encounter with the Protestant Pfingtlern is an opportunity to rediscover some existing elements in their tradition of theology and worship of the Holy Spirit.For this reason, they prefer to “charismatic” and not be called “Pentecostals.” They are based within the Catholic Church, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal , which in Italynello Spirito Renewal (RnS, Renewal in the Spirit) is called. The charismatic Catholics, both of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, as well as other communities who are experimenting with various forms of common life, are now sold more than 100 million.

Pentecostals a problem for ecumenism?

The presence of the Protestant Pentecostals provides for ecumenism an obvious problem represents the experts distinguish two phases of the older ecumenism between Protestants (a theological and a second mission cooperation), but excluded the Catholics, and a third phase that seeks the integrate Catholic Church, especially with the 1948 saw the foundation of the World Council of Churches (WCC) or World Council of Churches , the Catholics do not belong, but with whom they maintain close and cordial contacts since the 1950s. For a Catholic ecumenicist with the Protestants in dialogue means to be a dialogue with the historic communities of the Reformation, the members of the WCC: the Lutherans, the Calvinists, etc., and the Anglicans who are not Protestants are technically.

Since the 70s, the historic Protestant communities are within the Protestant world in the minority. Their share is dwindling rapidly since then. Especially in the U.S. and the developing world grow conservative groups in the region, the vast majority of Pentecostals is located, are not the WCC members and do not wish to belong, which they are not viable progressive and “liberal” positions on theological and moral question, accuse the right to life and the family. Many WCC member communities now accept abortion, some of the “gay marriage”. The WCC represents today not even a quarter of the Protestants. Falling. The other three quarters are “evangelicals” and thus conservatives, including many Pentecostals who do not belong to the WCC, but have created their own, alternative groupings.

Catholic ecumenicist with ideological affinity for progressive WCC

Many Catholic ecumenism professionals who have been trained in a school for which the WCC the Protestant world “was” have long forgotten that the “historical” Protestantism has long been only plays a minority role and its importance is decreasing. For this reason, they refused with the Pentecostals at all to talk and thus not with the vast majority of Protestants who were not known and the one “strange” was, not infrequently due to progressive ideological prejudices that just under Catholic ecumenists are rare. For them, in areas of theology and morality of dialogue with the “progressive” and “liberal” WCC was a possible dialogue with evangelical and Pentecostal “sects” preferable that you saw as reactionary and backward-looking by definition, or even as a kind of extended arm of the Republican Party of the United States. Conversely, many Pentecostals harbored strong anti-Catholic prejudice, the relics of conservative Protestantism were from which they emerged. Or they regarded the Catholic Church as part of a progressive opponent galaxy of dubious moral and theological orthodoxy, as she stood with the “liberal” Protestants in dialogue.

John Paul II comes first contact with Pentecostals

Although there was no lack of prophetic gestures, such as the invitation to attend the Pentecostals in the personal name as an observer at the Second Vatican Council, which remained stalled for decades. The crust of this alleged global ecumenical dialogue, which but three-quarters of Protestantism do not participate, begins in the 80s break up thanks to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, with the Pentecostals some forms of prayer in common and which knows how to talk to them. The first structured and significant experiences that are personally initiated and encouraged by the Holy Pope John Paul II (1920-2005), carried out in Italy between Catholic Charismatic Communities and pastors of the Pentecostal movement.

The meeting between Matteo Calisi, a representative of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal from Bari and Pastor Giovanni Traettino plays a central role because it abuts a dialogue that slowly, though not ripen without resistance both in the Catholic world and among the Pentecostals . In the 90’s first permanent facilities must be provided, including, founded in 1993 Consultazione Carismática Italiana (Italian Charismatic Council).

1994 first action alliance between Catholics and Evangelicals in the United States

In the same year produced in the USA, which has now Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is called, a group of Christian religious leaders and jurists, both evangelicals (many Pentecostals) as well as Catholics, relating more specifically for the defense of religious freedom, the right to life use and the family.

Signed in 1994 in the U.S., a group of leading evangelicals and Catholics, including on one side turn many Pentecostals and on the other side, for example, the then Archbishop of New York, Cardinal John Joseph O’Connor (1920-2000), the biographer of John Paul II, George Weigel and the tradition associated, today Archbishop Curia Father Augustine Di Noia the document ” Evangelicals and Catholics Togheter “(Evangelicals and Catholics Together). A document which not everyone likes. Even Pastor Traettino it criticized as being too “political” and “functional” aligned that gave more the impression of an alliance of American style with views of political elections. ¹ The existence of this document showed, however, that had changed much in the mutual perception .

Displacement of the contacts under Cardinal Bergoglio to Latin America?

Some observers today believe, under Benedict XVI., The German Pope, the land of the Reformation, the Catholic ecumenism have again focused only on the historic communities of Protestantism, especially the Lutherans, and that for this reason the most important meetings between Catholic Charismatic Communities and Pentecostal pastors who are open to dialogue, emigrated under the aegis of Cardinal Bergoglio to Latin America, which there also Traettino met and his friend was.

In reality, even under Benedict XVI. continued contacts between charismatic Catholics and Pentecostals. I myself was a speaker at such an ecumenical meeting in Assisi in 2012. It was Benedict XVI., Who, when he met the Lutherans in 2011 during his visit to Germany, this said that ecumenism could no longer ignore “new form of Christianity,” “one, which propagates with a tremendous missionary dynamics”. Although it not only positive aspects can be seen (“a Christianity with little institutional density, with little rational and even less dogmatic baggage, even with low stability”), represents the “global phenomenon” a healthy reaction against the “dilution of faith “under the” secularization pressure “that the a certain progressive theology represents.

Fixation of the ecumenical dialogue at WCC to end

The dialogue between Catholics and Protestant Pentecostals still shows many problems. In Pentecostal area, it is partly easier with the smaller movements than with the big denominations, and may be easier with an independent pastor who comes from a left-wing political experience as Traettino than with a U.S. religious leader, the one big luggage unilateral political ties between drags, which binds him to so-called “right” groups and foundations that are sometimes coupled in reality with powerful economic circles that are the Catholic Church minded doubtful often hostile and moral issues.However, the gesture of Pope Francis is not to be underestimated. She remembers many Catholic Berufsökumeniker mind that the time is definitely at an end, in which the World Council of Churches and the progressive Protestantism was the historic communities of the Reformation as a single point of contact for dialogue, while the vast majority of Protestant and Pentecostal as too conservative and was left reactionary left.

First published: Nuova Bussola Quotidiana
Introduction / Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: United in Christ / Life Today

 

Sources: The “secret” meeting of Pope Francis in Caserta

Pope Francis in Caserta twice – once for the evangelicals, even for Catholics