Robert McCullough at the CNS blog has posted a video message from Pope Francis to a gathering of Pentecostal pastors in the United States. It's a wonderful message, and well worth watching. Very affecting, and well-chosen to reach his intended audience.

Here is the full description: 

Pope Francis recorded a message of reconciliation and unity between the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church for Kenneth Copeland Ministries, a group of Pentecostal Christians in the United States. Bishop Tony Palmer, a bishop from a Pentecostal Christian community, did the camera work with an iPhone. The bishop also serves as international ecumenical officer for the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, a group that is not affiliated with the Anglican Communion, and which takes a much simpler view of the path to full Christian unity than the pope and the mainline Christian churches do. The translation used for the English subtitles on the video are not precise, but the pope's sincerity is clear.

The shorter clip, unfortunately, does not record the response of the gathered assembly and its leader, which follows in the longer video. In the full video, they pray for him and send a video message back to him.

You can watch it here, starting at 38:41. 

"We do not know how to pray for him other than to agree with him."

The closing remark of the Pentecostal leader is priceless: “I’m tellin’ you now – heaven is THRILLED over this.”

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Rita Ferrone is the author of several books about liturgy, including Pastoral Guide to Pope Francis’s Desiderio Desideravi (Liturgical Press). She is a contributing writer to Commonweal.

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