New Pope Faces Challenge of Evangelical Protestant Growth

The new Pope has already been elected at the end of the first full day of the conclave. As the white smoke poured out from the chimney stack of the Sistine Chapel, the next pope was decided upon by the 115 cardinals given the holy task. A new era of the Roman Catholic Church worldwide has opened.

Religious observers predict that the new pope will have to face the challenge of how to react to the Protestant evangelical churches that are rapidly expanding across the globe, according to the Associated Press.

Currently, the population of the Roman Catholics in the world is approximately 1.1 billion - nearly double that of the 600 million Protestants. However, by looking at the rate of expansion of evangelical Protestants, it is has become easier to recognise its power in recent years.

French religious historian Odon Vallet explained with some statistics when speaking to the Associated Press, "Today 75 percent of missionaries are Americans and the majority of them are from the evangelical churches. At the end of the 19th century two thirds of Christian missionaries were Catholic and half of their number were French."

Evangelical churches are particularly flourishing in countries such as South Korea and Latin America. 25 percent of South Koreans are Protestant Christians. In Latin America, which is the home to almost half of the world’s Roman Catholics, Protestant evangelicals have begun to emerge into the mainstream.

Half of evangelicals identify themselves as Pentecostalists, a movement of 300 million founded in 1906 in Los Angeles by African American Pastor William Joseph Seymour. Pentecostalism emphasises the experience of baptism of the Holy Spirit, generally evidenced by speaking in tongues. Pentecostals also promote gifts of the Spirit (charismata), including faith healing, prophecy, and exorcism.

Roman Catholics have tried to explain the success of Pentecostalism, saying that it seems to be founded on its emotional approach. Therefore, it is easier to be accepted by people than Catholicism which has always been said to work on intellect and will.

Jean-Pierre Bastian, director of Latin American studies at the Paris III University concluded, "Catholicism is still in the majority but they are now subject to great competition, that will only increase."

According to the World Evangelical Alliance, "Evangelical" derives from "evangel": "gospel". By definition an evangelical is someone who always put the Gospel as the centre of his thinking and living. Evangelicals have always put a great emphasis on the place of the Bible and they have always insisted on the necessity for conversion. Therefore, evangelical Protestant churches are usually characterised by its focus on evangelism and pastoral care.

In fact, the Roman Catholic Church has been shifting its focus to evangelism in the wake of the decline of Christianity in recent years, especially in Europe where a widespread secularisation has been observed.

During the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE) assembly held in England in October 2004, Catholic Bishops from 34 European Countries gathered and pointed out the desperate need for evangelism and recovery of the root of Christianity in the continent.