Pope Francis sent a video message to a gathering of U.S. Pentecostal leaders, voicing his “yearning” that separation between Catholics and other Christians may end.
“We have a lot of cultural riches and religious riches. And we have diverse traditions,” he said. “But we have to encounter one another as brothers. Let’s give each other a spiritual embrace and let God complete the work that he has begun,” he said, adding that “the miracle of unity has begun. “He will complete this miracle of unity,” the Holy Father said.
Pope Francis’ message was delivered to a meeting of the Fort Worth, Texas-based Kenneth Copeland Ministries by Pentecostal Bishop Tony Palmer, who had recorded it on an iPhone in a Jan. 14 meeting with the Holy Father. Palmer knew Pope Francis from his time in Argentina, when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires. The video was later uploaded to YouTube. The Pope described Palmer as “my brother,” saying the two have been “friends for years.”
“I am speaking to you as a brother ... with joy and yearning,” the Pope continued. “It gives me joy that you have come together to worship Jesus Christ the only Lord and to pray to the Father and to receive the Spirit,” he said. “This brings me joy because we can see that God is working all over the world.”
“We are kind of … permit me to say, separated,” the Pope said. “It’s sin that has separated us, all our sins, the misunderstandings throughout history. It has been a long road of sins that we all shared in. Who is to blame?”