Evangelicals and Pope Leo XIV

Editor’s Note: The following is a congratulatory statement offered by Professor Thomas K. Johnson of The World Evangelical Alliance for Pope Leo XIV. IRD is sharing this with readers as a brief reflection on how Evangelical-Catholic engagement has advanced in the past generation.

“Evil Will Not Prevail!” What a courageous statement! But every thoughtful person will ask, “How can you be so sure? Do we not experience good and evil as almost equal combatants in our hearts, our homes, our institutions?” Pope Leo XIV’s answer from his initial sermon, “We are all in the hands of God. Without fear, unite, hand in hand with God and among ourselves, we will go forward … Christ goes before us, and the world needs his light. Humanity needs him like a bridge to reach God and his love.” The recently appointed Pope added, “We have to look together how to be a missionary Church.” The World Evangelical Alliance is encouraged by your mention of mission in such a prominent speech.

Protestants have been separated from Roman Catholics for 500 years, but 50 years ago, when John R. W. Stott began our meetings with Vatican officials, the first publication was named, “The Evangelical-Roman Catholic Dialogue on Mission.” At that time our predecessors noted, “The very existence of the Evangelical-Roman Catholic Dialogue on Mission testifies to our common commitment to mission. One of the factors which led to its inauguration was the publication of the Lausanne Covenant (1974) and of Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI’s Apostolic Exhortation ‘Evangelization in the Modern World’ (1975).” A couple decades later our representatives joined in saying, “Mission belongs to the very being of the church. Proclaiming the word of God and witnessing to the world is essential for every Christian. At the same time, it is necessary to do so according to gospel principles, with full respect and love for all human beings.” (Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World, 2011) 

A missionary church, Evangelicals and Catholics have jointly confessed and should all believe, is central to God’s response to the contest between good and evil. Easter is the celebration of Jesus’ victory over sin, death, and evil, and this victory is the message that must be declared boldly and embodied in love by a missionary church. The world urgently needs to hear that evil has been defeated, is being defeated, and will be defeated. Jesus will prevail! 

We, the 600 million members of the WEA family of churches, look forward to spurring each other on to declare and to illustrate that Jesus is the Victor! That is the theme of our General Assembly 2025 “The Gospel for Everyone by 2033.” We invite the Roman Catholic Church to send a representative to hear from us how we hope to declare that evil was defeated at the Resurrection.

Since 2007 Professor Thomas K. Johnson has been writing, editing, and lecturing for the World Evangelical Alliance.