jepta 2001 21 - European Pentecostal Theological Association

The Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association, Vol. XXI, 2001
The goal is not structural unity, but rather the fostering of this
respect and mutual understanding between the Catholic church
and classical Pentecostal groups.'
What has changed through the years is the list of participants. Following its
initial round of discussions, the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity spoke
with the Pentecostal Steering Committee and asked that the Pentecostal team be
reconfigured. The Roman Catholic Church was not interested in speaking to
Charismatic Anglicans, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Orthodox, or French Reformed
believers apart from their own specific contexts. And the Pontifical Council
made it clear that it entered into dialogue with Pentecostals because it wanted to
speak with classical Pentecostals. Beginning in 1978, therefore, the Pentecostal
team invited only members of classical Pentecostal churches and did not include
members of the charismatic renewal within the historic churches. Since that time,
a small leadership core has attempted to draw paties from throughout the world
that are able to enter into theological discussion. On the whole, this method has
worked well, though there are some major problems yet to be resolved, such as
better representation from Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and women as well as
men.
It should be recognized that this Dialogue has always received official support
and representation from the Roman Catholic Church. This is still not the case
among the Pentecostals. A few Pentecostal groups, however, have embraced this
Dialogue and its work in recent years. Among them are the Apostolic Faith
Mission (South Africa), the International Evangelical Church, the International
Church of the Foursquare Gospel, the Open Bible Standard Churches, the
Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, the Church of God of Prophecy, the Mission
lglesia Pentecostal in Chile, and at the level of official observers, the
Broederschap van Pinkstergemeenten of the Netherlands.
Others have sent official participants from time to time (e.g. Church of God
(Cleveland, TN), Pentecostal Holiness, Church of God in Christ), but have not
done so in recent years. Still others have asked not to be identified because of
concerns they have about how some of their people might respond. Some have
chosen to treat the Dialogue with benign neglect. Still others, such as some of
my sisters and brothers in the Assemblies of God, continue to work tirelessly to
put an end to the Dialogue by calling for the discipline of its participants or
suppressing news of its work among their constituents. As a result, some
' "Evangelization, Proselytism and Common Witness, 1990-1997," 2, in Jefftey Gros, FSC,
Harding Meyer, and William G. Rusch, Eds, Growth in Agreement 11: Reports and Agreed
Statements of Ecumenical Conversations on a World Level, 1982-1998, Faith and Order Paper
No. 187 (Geneva, Switzerland: WCC Publications 1 Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdrnans
Publishing Company, 20001,753.
Roman Catholic-Pentecostal Dia1ogue:Some Pentecostal Assumptions:
Cecil M. Robeck, Jr.
Pentecostals and even some Roman Catholics have questioned the value of the
Dialogue.
If this is to change, it is essential that Pentecostals approach dialogue with a
thorough understanding of the Roman Catholic Church from a post-Vatican II
perspective, and not merely from the stereotypes of Rome that are rooted in the
16th Century or our own personal pain. The Roman Catholic Church entered the
modem world substantially through Vatican Council 11, and the Vatican deserves
credit for the growth that the Roman Catholic Church has made. But all the
changes that are necessary to make the Dialogue more fruitful do not belong to
the Pentecostal side. Roman Catholics need to reassess how they view
Pentecostals. Some lump all Pentecostals together, place them in the larger
phenomenon of Fundamentalism, and simply write them off as members of a
"religious right." They view them as fanatics, with no theological ground on
which to stand. But are they willing to explore the beliefs and practices that
Pentecostals hold as dear
Only this past week, I received an email from ZENIT, a daily dispatch from the
Vatican offering, according to its heading, "The World Seen from Rome." I was
disappointed to read an article titled "Sects Aiming to Influence Latin American
Politics." The dateline was Munich, Germany, April 9, 2001. It explained that
Bishop Jorge Jim nez Carvajal, President of the Latin American Bishops'
Council (CELAM), was attending meetings in Germany where he complained
that these "sects" were worrisome because they were (a) entering into Latin
American politics in large numbers and (b) they were being well financed
through a "large economic patrimony" from unnamed "U.S. -based groups."
Furthermore, it named the "Universal Church of the Kingdom of God [Sic.],"
headed by the Brazilian Edir Macedo as especially dangerous because it has
allegedly "created an astounding network of compulsory contributions from his
followers, resulting in the establishment of a veritable empire of communications
and banks in Brazil."' Bishop Carvajal went on to complain that the funding of
this Pentecostal denomination, as well as those of other so-called "sects", was
large because it was augmented by a "compulsory" tithe of lo%.'
' I know that the Church of the Universal Reign of the Kingdom of God is in many ways a
problematic representative of Pentecostalism, and as a result there are Pentecostals who would
like to distance themselves from this church. But on what basis can this legitimately be done I
believe that so long as they claim to be Pentecostals, and they are by whatever definition we
might use these days, we cannot treat them as though they are not Pentecostal. If we believe
them to be problematic, then it is incumbent upon us to find ways to talk with them and to share
our concerns with them in order to change their behavior. But that action presumes that we will
also be open to hear their criticisms of us.
The ZENIT web page is at htm;l/www~.
The date and number of the article "Sects
Aiming to Influence Latin American Politics," is ZE01040921.