Often, the Roman Catholic church and conservative Protestants (Fundamentalists and other Evangelicals) find themselves on the same side of major "hot" religious topics:

	They both oppose: Women's access to the morning-after pill, Access to abortion services, Choice in physician assisted suicide, Therapeutic and reproductive cloning of humans, Comprehensive sexual education in schools, Equal rights for gays and lesbians (including the right to marry), Student access to condoms in the schools.
	Both agree on many major theological matters, including: That human personhood begins at the instant of conception. The existence of Heaven and Hell, The inerrancy of the Bible, The Trinity, The Virgin birth of Jesus.
	The Roman Catholic church restricts access of women to most positions of authority and power in the church; Evangelicals hold diverse beliefs in this area. The Southern Baptists recently decided that women are not eligible for ordination. But some other conservative Protestant denominations ordain women and accept them in leadership positions.
	They disagree in two topics: use of birth control by married couples, and capital punishment. The Roman Catholic church is opposed to both. Most Evangelicals believe that birth control usage is a personal matter for each couple to decide, and that the death penalty is the preferred way of dealing with some murderers.

But there exists a great gulf between the two groups on other matters.

Billy Graham is perhaps the best known and loved conservative Christian evangelist in North America. He has long been involved in a close working relationship with the Roman Catholic church. He is perhaps the most influential Protestant involved in the Catholic-Evangelical ecumenical movement: ₂

	In 1964, after a meeting with Richard Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston, Mr. Graham said: "I feel much closer to Roman Catholic tradition than to some of the more liberal Protestants."
	in 1967, he received an honorary degree from a Roman Catholic institution: Belmont Abbey.
	In 1979, he recognized Pope John Paul II as "the moral leader of the world."
	In 1981, during an interview in Christianity Today, he said that one of the most significant changes in Christendom over the previous 25 years was "...the new understanding between Roman Catholics and Protestants. Twenty-five years ago we could hardly speak with each other openly. In our Crusades today, thousands of Catholics feel free to attend. I have preached in Roman Catholic schools, and have even received honorary doctorates from them. this could not have happened 25 years ago." 3
	In 1981, he met the pope for the first time, and was the first Protestant to ever speak at the North American College, a seminary for students from North America at the Vatican.
	In 1983, he advised President Reagan in the decision to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
	In 1990, Dr Graham met with the pope, to discuss Eastern Europe and relations between Evangelicals and Roman Catholics worldwide.
	Billy Graham's team generally seeks the cooperation of both Protestant and Roman Catholic churches in those urban areas where they have conducted recent campaigns.
	Roman Catholics who make a decision for Christ at his meetings are referred back to counselors at their diocese.

	Promise Keepers, the leading Evangelical Christian men's organization in the United States calls on individuals in all Christian groups to "tear down all denominational barriers" and join together in committing their lives to Jesus.
	Jack van Impe is arguably the leading Evangelical teleministry devoted to end-times prophecy. He frequently refers to the Roman Catholic church in a positive context on his weekly program.
	Robert Schuller, promoter of "Possibility Thinking" also refers to Catholicism positively in his TV program.
	The Charismatic movement straddles both Protestantism and Catholicism. At "The North American Congress on the Holy Spirit and World Evangelization" in 1987, 40,000 Charismatic Christians met. Present were Roman Catholics, Evangelicals, and Mainline Christians. The Catholic contingent was the largest of any denomination.

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Copyright © 1998 to 2004 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 1998-JUN-5
Latest update: 2004-OCT-03
Author: B.A. Robinson

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