CYI Worldwide
  • GOD
    • God's Love Letter To You
    • Does GOD Exist?
    • This Was Your Life
    • Find God
  • Q&A
  • Prophecy
  • COMIC BOOKS
  • Get HELP
    • Speak To A Counselor
    • Bullying Sucks!
    • Depression
    • ADHD
    • Encouragement
    • Fighters
  • Exposed
  • Podcasts
  • Sex
  • Evangelism

       NEWS WATCH

EXPOSED! Pop Culture Lies

Sen. Mike Lee, Dirk Kempthorne, Joel Osteen meet with Pope Francis at Vatican

6/8/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Source: Desert NewsBy Mark A. Kellner

WASHINGTON — A small group of political and religious leaders from the United States, including Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, met privately with Pope Francis at the Vatican today.

Part of a multiday, unofficial visit to Italy to promote ecumenical prayer and interfaith understanding, Lee was joined in the private audience by former U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne; Lakewood Church pastor and televangelist Joel Osteen; Tim Timmons, a pastor and author based in Newport Beach, California; and Gayle D. Beebe, president of Westmont College, an evangelical school in Santa Barbara, California.

Lee said The International Foundation, a private nonprofit, arranged the trip.

Picture
The Utah Republican conversed with the Pope in Spanish, which is the pontiff's mother tongue, about the need for faith in Jesus Christ and to build families. Lee, who served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, speaks fluent Spanish.

"I was told it would not only be the proper protocol, but also appreciated if I were to address him in Spanish," Lee said in a telephone interview from Rome. "The invitation to meet came from Pope Francis' desire to invite more people to come unto Jesus Christ," he added.

Lee said Francis asked his guests to pray that more people would serve and protect the family.

Ecumenical outreach

According to a Westmont College statement, the pontiff "invited the Protestant leaders to discuss the question: 'Can we find common ground in order to advance the life and ministry of Jesus so more people can experience the joy of Christian faith?'"

Lee and his wife were apparently the only members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the delegation.

"There was a very good spirit with him. I enjoyed the interaction," Lee added. "He's a very humble man."

Lee said he told Francis about the ecumenical prayer breakfasts held in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, and that the pope replied he supported such ventures. But beyond that and the usual pleasantries, Lee said, the pontiff had no specific message for him.

During his days in Rome, Lee said, he observed Francis in action when the pope met with more than 50,000 charismatic Roman Catholics during a worship service at Rome's Olympic Stadium. After arriving in a Ford Focus and asking the crowd for prayers, Lee said, the pontiff knelt on the ground to pray, the traditional "kneeler" cushion not being available.

A former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Francis Rooney, applauded the pope for meeting with the group. "I think the Pope, in reaching out, is broadening the concept of ecumenical dialogue, and he's reaching out to people who can touch other Christians," Rooney said

He noted that Pope John XXIII reached out to Jewish leaders, "having served as a papal nuncio (ambassador) and appreciated (their) plight" during World War II. And Pope John Paul II, who along with John XXIII was canonized in April, continued the outreach to Jews and included Eastern and other Orthodox Christian leaders, Rooney explained, and now Francis is widening the circle.

"This pope's a whirlwind," Rooney said. "He's making a great contribution to the world, I think. He's doing great things for the world. … I think the Pope, in reaching out, is broadening the concept of ecumenical dialogue and he's reaching out to people who can touch other Christians."

Lee also met with Cardinal George Pell, former Roman Catholic archbishop of Sydney and current prefect of the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy, and Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family. He said his talks included a discussion on unemployment and the need to help out-of-work individuals keep and maintain hope.

Prayer breakfasts

The senator said the group had met with "30 or 40 members of the Italian parliament from every political persuasion" about the possibility of organizing similar prayer breakfasts for that body to the ones conducted in Washington.

He also met with Angelino Alfano, Italy's interior minister, who noted the 70th anniversary this week of the "D-Day" invasion of Europe and America's efforts "to save Italy from fascism," Lee said

The visit by the delegation is part of what appears to be a greater outreach by Francis to non-Catholics in an effort to spur Christian unity and interchange. While previous popes, particularly St. John Paul II, were noted for interreligious dialogue, Francis hosted a number of non-Catholic leaders at the Vatican shortly after his election last year, including General Linda Bond, who was then serving as international leader of The Salvation Army.

During his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis, then known as Cardinal Jose Mario Bergoglio, engaged in active interfaith dialogues with Rabbi Abraham Skorka as well as Sheik Omar Abboud, the former Islamic Center of Argentina secretary-general. Both clerics accompanied Francis to Jordan and Israel during his recent journey there.

Lee's audience with Pope Francis came more than a century after another prominent Utahn has met with the top Roman Catholic leader at the Vatican. According to Orson Whitney's History of Utah, Sen. Thomas Kearns, himself a Catholic, traveled to Rome in April 1901, where he had an audience with Pope Leo XIII and "received his blessing." Michael Kearns of Silver King Publishing and a descendant of the late senator, confirmed the account in an email that noted that Perry Heath, then-publisher of The Salt Lake Tribune, also attended the meeting.

The International Foundation is also known as The Fellowship Foundation. The nonprofit's website describes its purpose as encouraging "one another and people throughout the world to carry out the first and Great Commandment 'to love God first' and 'to love your neighbor as yourself.' This is accomplished by seeking to adhere to the teachings and precepts of Jesus."

The group is also involved in the National Prayer Breakfast held in Washington, D.C., each February. Leespoke this year at a dinner connected to that event.


0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Get News Updates!  

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Subscribe in a reader

    Categories

    All
    2 Timothy 3
    501c3
    911
    Abortion
    Alcohol
    Aliens UFO
    Aliens - UFO
    America Destruction
    America Destruction
    Anti Semitism
    Anti-Semitism
    Apologetics
    Apostacy
    Atheism
    Atheist Church
    Attack On Family
    Bible
    Border Wars
    Bullying
    Catholicism
    Censorship]
    Chicago Terror Zone
    Chrislam
    Christian Persecution
    Christian Persecution
    Christian Values
    Chris White
    Church Decline
    Church Issues
    Church Nonsense
    Climate Change
    College
    Culture Of Death
    Cutting Edge Ministries
    Cutting-edge-ministries
    Damascus
    Debate
    Destruction Of America
    Destruction-of-america
    Deviant Sexuality
    Drugs
    Ecumenical Movement
    Elite
    Emergent Church
    End Times
    End-times
    Evangelism
    Evolution
    Extreme Christianity
    False Flag
    False Gospels
    False Gospels
    Farming
    FEMA Camp
    Feminism
    Feminization Of Men
    Free Speech
    Gangs
    Gay
    Gay Agenda
    Gender Identity
    Global Warming
    Global-warming
    GMO
    Good News
    Government Corruption
    Grace
    Grok Radio
    Hate Groups
    Health News
    Heaven
    Hollywood Exposed
    Hollywood Exposed
    Homeless
    Homeschooling
    Homosexuality
    Human 2.0
    Humanism
    Immigration
    Incest
    Indoctrination
    Injustice System
    International Religious News
    Isaiah 17 Prophecy
    Isis
    Islam
    Islam Debunked
    Israel
    Jack-van-impe
    Jack Van Impe Presents
    Jeremiah 49
    Jewish News
    Jews
    Joel Rosenberg
    John Piper
    Korea
    Liberal Nonsense
    Loss Of Liberties
    Mainstream Media Exposed
    Mainstream Media Exposed
    Mark Dice
    Mark Of The Beast
    Martial Law
    Media Deception
    Media Deception
    Mental Health
    Middle East
    Middle-east
    Military
    Millennial Nonsese
    Missionaries
    Multiculturalism
    Multi Culturalism
    Multiculturalism6e9605f9ef
    Murder
    Music Industry
    Music Industry Exposed
    Muslim Agenda
    Mysticism
    Natural Disasters
    New Age
    NewsWatch Video
    New World Order
    Noah
    Nwo
    Occult
    One World Government
    One World Religion
    Oprah
    Parenting
    Pestilence
    Pets
    Planned Parenthood
    Police Brutality
    Police State
    Political Correctness
    Pope
    Pornography
    Positive News
    Poverty
    Prayer Request
    Prepping
    Prophecy
    Prophecy-in-the-news
    Prostitution
    Race Manipulation
    Racism
    Rapture
    Research
    Revival
    Robotics
    Russia
    Salvation
    Saracsm-hoaxes
    Satanism
    Satire
    School Curriculum
    School Violence
    School Violence
    Science
    Sex
    Sex Trafficing
    Sexual Abuse
    Shadow Government
    Sharia Law
    Signs Of End Times
    Social Media
    Spiritual Warfare
    Suicide
    Taking A Stand
    Taking-a-stand
    Technology
    Terrorism
    Terrorism In America
    Testimony
    Transgender
    Transhumanism
    True American History
    United Nations
    Vampirism
    Violence
    Virtue SIgnals
    Walmart
    War On Christianity
    Wars/Rumors Of Wars
    What The?!
    Witchcraft
    Woman Issues
    Word-of-faith
    Xxx-church
    Youth Gone Wild
    Youth Issues
    Youth On Fire

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    February 2019
    July 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • GOD
    • God's Love Letter To You
    • Does GOD Exist?
    • This Was Your Life
    • Find God
  • Q&A
  • Prophecy
  • COMIC BOOKS
  • Get HELP
    • Speak To A Counselor
    • Bullying Sucks!
    • Depression
    • ADHD
    • Encouragement
    • Fighters
  • Exposed
  • Podcasts
  • Sex
  • Evangelism