For the first time a Waldensian delegation to meet with Pope Francis

On March 5, a delegation of the Waldensian Church (Union of Waldensian and Methodist churches) will travel to the Vatican for an audience with Pope Francis.

"Reciprocate with joy and spirit of fraternity the visit that the Pope has made ​​us June 22, meeting us in the Waldensian church of Turin, a symbol of the emancipation of the Waldensian after 1848 - announces the pastor Eugenio Bernardini, the moderator of the Waldensian Board -. This time will be a hearing in the Vatican an opportunity to give more substance to an ecumenical dialogue which, even under the pressure of Pope Francis, is growing visibly. I think not only to doctrinal documents in common - says the moderator - but also the need for a new and more welcoming Christian mission in a world more and more plural and secularized; and I think ecumenism 'in the diaconate' that perhaps never as in these days approaching Catholics and Protestants in the shared commitment to a world more capable of dialogue and justice, as the reception of refugees and the protection of migrants' rights. "

The past. Bernardini chair a delegation that includes pastors and "laymen": Greetje van der Veer, Aldo Lausarot, Luca Elderly, Jens Hansen, Lothar Vogel, Maria Bonafede, Raul Matta, Claudio Paravati and Paolo Naso.

Following the hearing, the delegation will have lunch at the Vatican at the Santa Marta guesthouse.

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