An Advent Gathering for Christian Unity

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The setting could not have been more appropriate. St. Paul the Apostle Church is the mother church of the Paulist Fathers for whom ecumenism is a central mission.

Several hundred Catholics, Evangelical Protestants and Pentecostals gathered at the big stone church on Manhattan’s West Side Dec. 16 to celebrate Advent and the things that Christians share in common.

The evening, “An Advent Celebration of Christian Unity,” was organized by an ecumenical coalition of Catholic and Protestant leaders called the John 17 movement. Joe Tosini, an ordained evangelical pastor and author, founded the movement two years ago.

Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo Nevares of the Diocese of Phoenix was among the Catholic leaders who participated.

Msgr. John Paddack, pastor of Notre Dame parish and dean of West Manhattan, and one of the evening’s organizers, said, “Obviously, we have a church that is broken into many, many pieces, and I’m not just talking about the Catholic Church, I’m talking about all of Christianity.

“We’re trying to bring the Christian people together,” he said.

Msgr. Paddack stressed this was nothing less than a command from Christ himself. “The reason (it’s called) John 17, is if you take a look at that line, John 17:21, you are going to see that Christ asked for all of his followers to be one, not necessarily uniform, but to be united,” he explained.

The worldwide scope of the movement and its importance were underscored when Giovanni Traettino, a pastor of the Evangelical Church of Reconciliation in Bari, Italy, and a close personal friend of Pope Francis, read a letter he had carried with him from Italy from the pope giving the gathering his personal blessing.

Pope Francis wrote in part: “My own prayer is that the Lord of the Church may pour out his spirit upon your meeting and give new life and impetus to your desire for fellowship and your relationships. May he renew in our shared calling to be ambassadors and ministers of reconciliation. Let us together seek for a new day in relationships between Evangelicals, Pentecostals and Catholics of your great metropolis...We have been born of the same seed. We are brothers and sisters.”

The evening featured fervent prayer, spirited singing and Christian fellowship. Catholic songwriter and composer Matt Maher was in charge of the music for the service.

Guy Wasko, pastor of Trinity Grace Church, an Evangelical Charismatic Church in Manhattan’s East Village, said he hoped that such encounters would grow.

“Tonight is the beginning, the foundation of what I believe could happen going forward, which is celebrating what makes us the same, what makes us similar, the ways that we’re very close to one another between the Catholic and the Protestant traditions,” he said. “You know, historically, we’ve been so separated and so divisive, and if Jesus’ prayer is meant to be taken seriously in John 17, we should probably do something about that.”

Father Gil Martinez, C.S.P., pastor of St. Paul the Apostle, said he was pleased his parish church had been selected for the extraordinary faith encounter. “We’re so committed to ecumenism and interfaith dialogue flowing from the Second Vatican Council and all of our work,” he noted. “We’re honored to have this here. We’re delighted.”

For many in attendance, it was perhaps the first time they had set foot inside a Catholic Church. Sonya Chung, a parishioner at Trinity Grace, said she came because Pastor Wasko had spoken so enthusiastically about the gathering during Sunday services the weekend before.

“I just wanted to come and see what it was all about,” she said. “It felt very comfortable for me. It was really great to see everyone come together.”