LETTER TO BISHOP EFRAIM TENDERO, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE WORLD EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE ON THE OCCASION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Dear Bishop Tendero,

As President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, I am pleased to convey Pope Francis’ prayerful good wishes to you and all the participants in the General Assembly of the World Evangelical Alliance held with the motto “Our Kingdom Come”, to be held in Jakarta from 7-13 November 2019.

In Indonesia you are gathered together “to re-examine, re-align and re-commit yourselves to the needed mindset, processes and structures to fulfill the Great Commission in our generation and the next”. This is a concern that has also been at the center of our recent reflections as Catholics. Pope Francis has taught that it is crucial to speak to young people about what is essential: God loves you. Christ is your Savior. He is alive. Pope Francis reminds young people that the Holy Spirit fills the heart of the risen Christ and then flows over into our own lives. When we receive the Holy Spirit, He draws us ever more deeply into the heart of Christ, so we can grow in his love, his life and his power. (cf. Christus vivit 111-133)

The World Evangelical Alliance and the Catholic Church, through the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, have recently concluded the third series of International Consultations. Through these meetings we have learned much about one another. We can affirm together that the Church does not live only by its own strength but by the grace of the gospel. Fidelity to the gospel leads us into new paths and challenges us to break new ground in ways which often seem foolish to the eyes of the world (cf. I Cor 1:23).

As you meet together to discern how to pass on the Gospel to future generations, please be assured of my prayers for this General Assembly, asking the Holy Spirit to continue to strengthen your fellowship in Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father. I remain,

Cardinal Kurt Koch
President