Pope Francis and several prominent Evangelical and Pentecostal leaders met in Rome last Friday to discuss areas of mutual agreement and where they respectfully disagreed. The aim of the gathering, which had no official agenda, was to build unity between Christian traditions that have historic enmity.
The Rev. Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, former secretary general of the World Evangelical Alliance and chairman of the Advisory Board of Christian Media Corporation, said in an interview with The Christian Post Tuesday, that there was a John 17 spirit during the two meetings he had with Pope Francis. Tunnicliffe noted that formal meetings with the pope are often said to last only 30 minutes but one informal meeting with Francis and Evangelical and Charismatic leaders lasted over two hours. Those at the gathering sensed the presence of God, according to Tunnicliffe, and a unity of the Spirit as their discussions focused on Jesus Christ even as they talked about theological differences. Continue reading…
With a hugely symbolic hug and an exchange of kisses on the cheek, Pope Francis and the grand imam of Cairo’s al-Azhar Mosque, which houses a 1,000-year-old university, took a major step toward restoring relations between major branches of the world’s two largest faiths, Roman Catholicism and Sunni Islam. The two met privately for 25 minutes in the pope’s private library at the Vatican.
WASHINGTON — An ecumenical event featuring Hillsong United, Lecrae, Michael W. Smith, Josh McDowell, Ravi Zacharias, Francis Chan and other renown evangelical and Catholic speakers and musicians that is set to take place in Washington, D.C. is raising concerns as it seeks to draw a million attendees to “link arms” in unity, including with the Vatican.
The head of the Protestant Church in 
Many of America’s top Christian leaders, representing a variety of races, ages and denominations, will convene in the Dallas area Sept. 21 for 
WLOS — 
Despite Pope Francis’ literal embracing of a top Islamic cleric and declaration that their “Meeting is the message,” his top aid said Christians must apply Matthew 28 to everyone, including Muslims.
The leadership of the World Evangelical Alliance and the World Council of Churches have met in the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland to explore and discuss possible areas of future cooperation.
“Pope Francis has met the grand imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque at the Vatican in a historic encounter that was sealed with a hugely symbolic hug and exchange of kisses. The first Vatican meeting on Monday between the leader of the world’s Catholics and the highest authority in Sunni Islam marks the culmination of a significant improvement in relations between the two faiths since Francis took office in 2013. …Ties were badly soured when the now-retired Benedict made a September 2006 speech in which he was perceived to have linked Islam to violence, sparking deadly protests in several countries and reprisal attacks on Christians.”
The 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 should be a profoundly ecumenical, as well as European and international celebration, according to Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, chair of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD).