A tribute to ecumenism: First visit ever by a Pope to a Waldensian temple

Francis has shown a constant attention to Protestantism even before his visit to Turin. The story about his grandmother and the Salvation Army, his experience in Buenos Aires and his visit to a Pentecostal pastor friend in Caserta

IACOPO SCARAMUZZI
VATICAN CITY – vaticaninsider

“We will be ourselves. We hope this will be understood because the game of television media communication can describe reality in a very truthful way but on the other hand we are aware of the potential risks of simplification and misunderstanding,” Pastor Eugenio Bernardini, moderator of the Waldensian Table (the governing body of this Protestant Church) toldRiforma, the weekly newspaper of the evangelical Baptist, Methodist and Waldesian Churches, expressing his expectations and fears about Pope Francis’ visit to the Waldensian temple in Turin on Monday. There has certainly been no shortage of misunderstandings and conflicts over the years and centuries between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestants and Francis’ visit to the Waldensian Temple – this will be the first time ever that a Pope enters a Waldensian Church – is going to be a historic event. But it is part of a continued attention Francis has been showing to the Reformed Churches and other Christian denominations – starting with Orthodoxy – since his days as Archbishop of Buenos Aires.

 

 

“On Monday,” Bernrdini said, “we will not be afraid to recognise all that unites us as Christians, disciples of Jesus Christ and disciples of the same God, we will not be afraid to recall all these theological and religious aspects that still divide us and which we would like to work on in order to make greater progress: this is what ecumenism is about. Frankness and sincerity in a fraternal climate in which we listen to one another, not a climate of confrontation and controversy. This is the big difference compared to the past that we do not want to repeat today.”

 

 

The Waldensian Evangelical Church takes its name from Peter Waldo, a merchant of Lyon who lived in the 12^th century. At a certain point in his life, Waldo decided to give up his possessions and preach the Gospel among the poor. The Archbishop of Lyon, Guichard urged him to abstain from any form of preaching and explaining the Scriptures but Waldo refused and was expelled from the diocese of Lyon along with all his followers. In 1532, the Waldensians joined the Protestant Reform which figures such as Luther and above all Calvin gave birth to. Following bloody persecutions, the Waldensians survived in the Piedmont Valleys from the 16^th century on, until they managed to spread throughout Italy after being granted civil rights  on 17 February 1848 by will of King Carlo Alberto (who also granted civil and political rights to the Jews). They still celebrate February 17^th today. The Waldensian community, mainly made up of Italians, are also present in Latin America and in Argentina in particular. The moderator of the Waldensian Churches of Rio de la Plata will also be present in the Waldensian Temple in Turin. The Waldensians have had a number of prominent figures overt he course of time, including Pastor Tullio Vinay, the director Luigi Comencini and the historian Giorgio Spini to name but a few.

 

 

They are often engaged in the social and cultural spheres, are devoted to Bible reading and are heirs of a tradition of liturgical sobriety and personal responsibility. Over time, they have frequently distanced themselves from the Italian Bishops’ Conference and the Vatican on current issues such as bioethics and fundamental theological questions. They have on occasions shown themselves to be in tune with dissenting Catholics and Daniele Garrone, a Waldensian theologian, attended the presentation of Benedict XVI’s book “Jesus of Nazareth” in the Vatican. Pope Francis has also received praise as well as a criticism or two from Waldensians since his election. For example, the Waldensian theologian Paolo Ricca spoke of “surprise and delusion” regarding a 1985 conference on Giovanni Calvino which was recently publicised again. At this conference, Bergoglio, in re-evoking the clash between Jesuits and Calvinists in the Reform era, criticised a “schismatic Calvinism”. In an interview with Eugenio Scalfari, founder of Italian newspaper La Repubblica, the Pope, in answer to Scalfari’s comment about his efforts to strengthen the Catholic Church’s relations with the Orthodox and Anglican Churches, he added: “With the Waldensians whom I consider religious men of the first order, with Pentecostals and naturally with our Jewish brothers”. It is surprising that Pope Bergolgio chose to mention the Waldesians in the same breath as the orthodox, the Anglicals, the Pentecostals and the Jews, in other words religious communities that are infinitely bigger than our small church,” remarked Pastor Bernardini. “With Francis the Roman Chatholic Church seems to be moving faster. Analysis becomes out of date fast. New questions cpme to the fore. And these questions are put to us not only as Christians who belong to a reformed family but also as a small church interpreting a very specific theological and spiritual tradition. It is a new opportunity that gives us big ecumenical responsibilities.” And this dialogue will continue Monday at the temple located in Corso Vittorio II, in Turin.

 

 

The Pope’s relationship with the Protestant world is rich and varied. There have been numerous audiences and meetings. The attitude he had towards the Reformed churches, which he inherited from a rather traditional family context, changed – he said so himself – thanks to his grandmother. “When I was four years old — it was 1940, none of you were born yet! — I went out with my grandmother,” he told a Salvation Army delegation in an audience in the Vatican at the end of 2014. “In that time, it was thought that all Protestants went to hell. On the other side of the sidewalk there were two women of The Salvation Army, with that hat that you all have…. Have you worn one? And I remember like it was yesterday, I said to my grandmother: “Who are they? Nuns?”. And my grandmother said: “No, they are Protestants, but they are good”. Therefore, because of your good witness, my grandmother opened the door to ecumenism to me. The first ecumenical preaching I ever heard was in front of you. Thank you very much.”

 

 

Memorable meetings with Protestant representatives included the Pope’s audience with “dear sister” Anje Jackelen, the Swedish Lutheran Primate, last May, the meeting with Tony Palmer – a personal friend of the Pope’s and a Pentecostal bishop who died in a motorbike accident who filmed a video-message of Pope Francis on his smartphone –  and the President Emeritus of the World Lutheran Federation, Christian Krause during an audience at an ecumenical conference organised by the Focolare movement. Krause wished to celebrate the 500^th anniversary of the 1517 Reform with the Pope. The audience the Pope held with Catholic and Protestant promoters of the translation of the Bible into modern-day language (Waldensian pastors and Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini were among the first to come up with the idea): “It is a good idea because then simple people can understand it,” Francis said on that occasion.

 

 

Francis hails from a continent, Latin America, where Pentecostals – who some define as a “sect” –successfully get people to convert and spread the Gospel. The Catholic world regards this phenomenon with suspicion but also interest. Brazilian liberation theologian Clodovis Boff, who is certainly not a supporter, revealed, for example, that “emotion risks turning intoemotionalism, which at times leads to mass hysteria. Sometimes the “Universal Church of the Kingdom of God” does not create a community; it has patrons, it is like a huge religious supermarket. A strong sense of identity can turn into arrogance adn sectarianism, Biblical reading is fundamentalist and there is a lack of theological culture, ethical rigour can become self-righteousness , there is a risk of masses being manipulated, political positions often alienated and alienating, an anti-ecumenical and anti-dialogical attitude. But the oversall picture is positive. The poor gain from it  because the Pentecostal Churches console them, give them focus and dignity. And Christ is announced.” Jorge Mario Bergoglio also knows the limits and dynamism of this world. He has often wished to meet with representatives of the Charismatic world, Catholics and Protestants. For example in June 2014, when he went to the Olympic Stadium in Rome to meet participants of an event organised by the Renewal in the Holy Spirit along with the International Charismatic Catholic Renewal Services (ICCRS) and the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowship (CFCCF), bowing to receive a blessing. He repeated this gesture, bowing his head in the Vatican before a group of a hundred Pentecostal pastors from different parts of the world led by Giovanni Traettino, on 7 May this year.