Ecumenical meeting marks first time Mormons join in papal gathering
NEW YORK (CNS) -- For the first time, representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints participated in a papal prayer service -- and it all started over coffee.
In an interview with Catholic News Service and other reporters before the start of the ecumenical prayer service at St. Joseph's Church in New York April 18, Father James Massa, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interrreligious Affairs, said that during a coffee break at a recent meeting a representative of the Latter-day Saints asked him if there was any possibility of their participation in the papal visit.
"My reaction was, 'Why not?' We have shared values and there is a possibility of collaboration on a number of social issues while respecting our theological differences," he said....