Pope Francis apologises for treatment of Italy’s Pentecostals

Pope Francis has apologised for the complicity of some Catholics in the fascist-era persecution of Italy’s pentecostal and evangelical Christians.

While in southern Italy, in Caserta on July 27, Pope Francis made what the Vatican called a “strictly private” visit with 200 pentecostal and evangelical Christians.

Francis apologised for the persecution in the 1920s and 1930s, and urged Christians to celebrate their diversity and unity.

“Catholics were among those who persecuted and denounced the Pentecostals, almost as if they were crazy,” Francis said.

“I am the shepherd of the Catholics and I ask you to forgive my Catholic brothers and sisters who did not understand and were tempted by the devil.”

Giovanni Traettino, a Pentecostal pastor and longtime friend of Pope Francis, welcomed the Pope, who he described as “my beloved brother”.

Pope Francis said he knows some people were shocked that he would make a special trip outside of Rome to visit a group of Pentecostals, “but I went to visit my friends”.

Traettino told the Pope his visit was “unthinkable until recently,” even though, he said, “even among evangelicals there is great affection for you”.

Meeting with Caserta’s Catholic priests and bishops from the Campania region the previous day, Pope Francis gave a glimpse into his thoughts about Catholic relations with Pentecostals.

He told the story of a priest who went on mission in a remote area of Argentina and met a woman who told him the Catholic Church had abandoned her and her fellow Catholics.

“I need the word of God, so I had to go to the Protestant service,” the woman said.

The Pope said the priest apologised on behalf of the Catholic Church, but recognised and respected the depth and sincerity of her faith.

“Every man, every woman has something to give us,” the Pope said, advising the priests to listen to people and engage in dialogue.

Benedict XVI was right when he said that “the Church grows not through proselytism, but through attraction”, Pope Francis said.

And attraction is “human empathy guided by the Holy Spirit”, Francis said.

Sources

Additional reading

News category: World.

Tags: , , , ,