ROME — Pope Francis joined thousands of Charismatic Catholics, Pentecostals and evangelicals at a rousing rally Saturday aimed at showing Christians united in prayer. Francis actually joined in the singing — a rarity for a pope who professes to be tone deaf — and raised his arms up at the end of the vigil on the Circus Maximus in Rome. Francis told the crowd: “We have differences, but we want to have reconciled diversity.”He repeated his frequent refrain that Christians today are united in the “ecumenism of blood” given that Islamic extremists are targeting Christians regardless of denomination. Related“The witness of our martyrs unites us today,” the pope said. “Much like the myths of Christians hiding in the catacombs and being thrown to the lions in the Colisseum, there’s not much truth to the story.”

Source: National Post June 03, 2017 20:26 UTC