{"id":2195,"date":"2026-10-01T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vaticanfiles.org\/?p=2195"},"modified":"2026-09-29T09:14:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T07:14:31","slug":"vf261","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vaticanfiles.org\/ro\/2026\/10\/vf261\/","title":{"rendered":"261. Reformanda Initiative Turns 10. Reflections on the Evangelical Engagement with Roman Catholicism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Note: This article summarizes the introductory talk given at <\/em>the eighth edition of the Rome Scholars and Leaders Network<\/em><\/a> (Rome, June 15\u201318, 2026).<\/em>

Ten years are just the blink of an eye in the normal course of events. We shouldn\u2019t attach too much importance to them. However, for Evangelical initiatives that originated in minority contexts and have an international profile, ten years is no trivial period. It was in 2016 that the first Rome Scholars Network<\/a> (RSLN) was launched and the Reformanda Initiative<\/a> (RI) began its work. In 2016 RI also launched \u201cIs the Reformation Over? A Statement of Evangelical Conviction<\/a>\u201d which was signed by hundreds of Evangelical scholars and leaders<\/a>. The statement helped Evangelicals see that the Reformation’s problems with Roman Catholicism are still current problems for Evangelicalism. Despite the same words used by Rome and Evangelicals (e.g. faith, grace, sin, salvation), Rome\u2019s gospel is not committed to Scripture alone and to salvation by faith alone, and is therefore flawed.\u00a0

Aside from the two-year hiatus caused by the pandemic, the RSLN has met regularly ever since, with at least two hundred international Evangelical scholars and leaders participating. Over these ten years, there have been dozens of conferences and symposia in Europe and around the world, the publication of books in various languages, the launch of a podcast, and more, all sponsored or led by RI.

I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the state of Evangelical theological engagement with Roman Catholicism and on how the RI has sought to contribute to it. Of course, my reflections are biased, since I have been involved with the RI since its inception, and they are impressionistic, as I will highlight some general points without delving into them in depth or documenting them academically. I believe three areas can be identified in which the RI has done significant work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1. Call to Action: From a Blind Spot to a Field of Work<\/strong>
Over the past ten years, Evangelical interest in the Roman Catholic Church has grown, and RI has played a small part in this phenomenon. At the time of its launch, no Evangelical initiative worldwide was dedicated to studying Roman Catholicism. In Evangelical circles in general, there was a sort of blind spot. Roman Catholicism was\u2014and is\u2014everywhere, yet the Evangelical radar paid little or no attention to it. With few exceptions, seminaries and Bible schools did not offer specific courses on Roman Catholicism; mission agencies paid scant attention to the need to train their staff on how to engage with Roman Catholicism in an Evangelically responsible manner. Churches did not include any training on Roman Catholicism in their catechesis or discipleship programs. New books on the subject were few; those that did exist\u2014if not outright obsolete\u2014tended to rehash past controversies.
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Ten years later, the situation has changed slightly\u2014not solely because of RI, of course\u2014but RI has played a small role in what has happened. It is necessary to briefly mention several factors that have contributed to this change:
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