Pope Francis, evangelicals, and Catholics
The late pope built bridges. Some still think that's a bad thing.
Pope Francis (foreground) listens as Thomas Schirrmacher, then World Evangelical Alliance Secretary General, speaks at a Vatican event on Christian-Muslim relations.
Pope Francis (1936–2025) was a remarkable man. He lived out simplicity and humility while occupying the most recognized position in all of Christianity. He also boldly challenged things he didn’t like in his own church.
I did not know Pope Francis personally, but some of my colleagues did. Thomas Schirrmacher, former World Evangelical Alliance secretary general, and Thomas K. Johnson, who served as WEA envoy to the Vatican, counted him as a friend. Schirrmacher wrote a book about their relationship.
Francis was a controversial pope, but in today’s Catholic Church, with traditionalist, liberalizing, and charismatic wings angling for influence, any pope is likely to be controversial.
Francis showed deep interest in evangelicals. Early in his tenure, he invited World Evangelical Alliance leaders to the Vatican. Brian Stiller, a member of the entourage, shared this photographic evidence of Pope Francis personally filling Stiller’s water glass.
Schirrmacher told me a few years ago that he thought relations between Catholic and evangelical Christians were better than at any time since Martin Luther’s day.
Major theological differences remain. They were clearly and graciously elucidated in the final report of an six-year engagement between evangelical and Catholic leaders that ended in 2016. Instead of simply listing agreements and disagreements, the report contains each side’s statement on how they were encouraged by the other side and what questions they still had. It is highly readable, well worth reading, and a great starting point for friendly conversations between evangelicals and Catholics.
Much of the report discusses the relationship between Scripture and tradition. I would argue that all Christians’ approach to Scripture is shaped and conditioned by church tradition. The Catholics are just more overt about admitting it—and less able to change, because their tradition is wrapped up in claims of infallibility. One particular part of Catholic tradition, the requirement of priestly celibacy, has caused much harm, but there is no easy way for the Vatican to repudiate it.
For some hard-line evangelicals, simply having friendly conversations with the Vatican is a dubious project. Their caution is understandable, but the suspicion is misplaced. Within the vast Catholic Church, forms of spirituality vary widely, from mysticism to syncretism to sincere evangelical fervor with a Hail Mary on top. Many aspects of Catholic tradition and practice still honor Jesus Christ, and we should encourage people who worship within the Catholic Church to recognize and elevate those aspects.
Ten years ago, Thomas Schirrmacher explained why he, as a global evangelical leader, collaborated with the Catholic Church. Several of his remarks remain pertinent and, in my judgment, irrefutable:
For decades, I have campaigned for greater solidarity within the global church with respect to discrimination against and persecution of Christians. I have been privileged to speak to the leaders of a wide variety of Christian traditions about this matter. … The persecution and martyrdom of Christians is wrong, even (and perhaps especially) when they occur between professing Christians. Pope Francis has already provided significant assistance to persecuted evangelicals in several specific situations.
The Roman Catholic Church has 1.2 billion members and the churches belonging to the member alliances of the World Evangelical Alliance have 600 million members (both figures are semi-official estimates). Together, we make up three quarters of World Christianity. Thus we run into each other every day worldwide—in politics, in academics, in economics, in social matters, and in various kinds of consultations. What sense does it make for us not to talk to one another? The world expects us to talk. Our own people expect us to talk. No problems are addressed and certainly no problems are solved by refusing to talk with one another.
There are major ethical and socio-political issues where Catholics and evangelicals stand together (e.g. human trafficking, political corruption, abortion, same-sex marriage). An effective response seems to me to require that we talk with one another.
Let us pray that the next leader of the Catholic Church will have a pure commitment to Jesus Christ and as great an openness to the whole body of Christ as Pope Francis had.