BUENOS AIRES, AUG. 29, 2007 (Zenit.org).- An ecumenical conference held in prominently Catholic Argentina gave Christians a chance to proclaim their common faith in Christ and the mandate to announce Jesus' name.
Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires and primate of Argentina, told the 4th Encounter of the Renewed Communion between Evangelicals and Catholics in the Spirit (CRECES) to not "privatize" the Gospel, and that a correct understanding of Christianity means announcing and sharing the name of Jesus.
"The name of Jesus is the center of our lives, the backbone," Cardinal Bergoglio exclaimed. "We must safeguard the name of Jesus in our memory, in order to prevent this spirit from becoming distorted in ourselves. Let us not privatize the Gospel, let us not privatize the name of Jesus for ourselves. If I do not share it, it is because I have not understood it. We received it without paying, we must give without pay."
The cardinal was one of the featured speakers at last week's CRECES conference, a gathering that aims to unite Catholics and Protestants in worship and expressions of solidarity.
CRECES arose from an Italy-based organization, the Community of Jesus, which has been promoting reconciliation between Christians for more than two decades.
Brothers and sisters
Its founder, Matteo Calisi, spoke with ZENIT, seconding Cardinal Bergoglio's appeal.
"Announcing the Gospel is a right and a duty of all members of the kingdom of God who have been baptized in Christ and who, therefore, are the children of the only heavenly Father and our brothers and sisters, even if they are not yet fully in communion with the Catholic Church," Calisi said.
The CRECES encounter led to the drawing up of a final declaration, "the value and significance of which is particularly relevant in Latin America, where the relationship between the Catholic Church and a greater part of the Pentecostal evangelical environment has been marked by many disagreements and lacks of fraternal dialogue," he added.
Calisi stressed that "the experience of this dialogue between Catholics and evangelicals, proposed by CRECES in Argentina and in Latin America, is the solid and effective answer that it is indeed possible to work together in one single mission of the Gospel, in mutual respect, openness and sincerity."
"Therefore, our unity is not based on an abstract declaration but, rather, on the common mission Jesus wants for his Church, 'so as that the world may believe,'" Calisi contended. "This dialogue undoubtedly represents one of the providential answers of the Holy Spirit to the Church's ecumenical challenges in Latin America, as witnessed by the recent final document of the [Latin American bishops' council] at Aparecida, approved by Benedict XVI."
Group's roots
CRECES "was born from the yearning that the Holy Spirit put into the hearts of a group of Catholic and evangelical brothers who, without knowing it, prayed on their own that the Lord would inspire a common way toward the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer to the Father, the night he was betrayed: Father 'that they may all be one ... so that the world may know that thou hast sent me,'" the promoters told ZENIT.
The beginning of a common path began with Matteo Calisi's visit to Buenos Aires in July 2003. For some years, Calisi and evangelical pastor Jorge Mimitian had met in Italy, sharing the same desire for unity.
After a first meeting in Buenos Aires, four evangelical pastors and four Catholic laymen began to meet monthly to pray and discern the will of God for this endeavor of reconciliation and unity. The first meeting of CRECES was held in 2005.
ZE07082905 - 2007-08-29
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-20365?l=english
Ecumenism Gets Boost in Latin America
Conference Urges Christians to Spread Faith
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