Pope's Pentecostal Plans: Set to celebrate 50th anniversary of charismatic renewal with Pentecostals and Charismatics

'Pope Francis asked us to plan a jubilee that is as inclusive as possible.'

Pope Francis has encouraged inclusion since before he stepped into the papacy. Now, in a show of openness, the pontiff has invited Catholic charismatics, Pentecostals and Evangelicals to Rome.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The Church is celebrating it's 50th Catholic charismatic renewal anniversary, and everyone is invited.

The celebration is set to take place June 4, with the Pope leading a prayer vigil the night before at Rome's Circus Maximus, which was once used for chariot races.

May 31 will kickoff Rome's Jubilee celebrations with a youth festival, theologian meetings and workshops, and prayer meetings, while the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services (ICCRS) presides.

"Pope Francis asked us to plan a jubilee that is as inclusive as possible," Michelle Moran, the president of ICCRS, explained, adding other Christians who emphasize the importance of baptism in the Holy Spirit are of particular interest.

In 2014, Pope Francis was not a fan for those who knelt onstage to pray for him or when they began speaking in tongues.

"In the early years of the charismatic renewal in Buenos Aires, I did not have much love for charismatics," the Pope admitted. "I said of them: They seem like a samba school."

Today, Pope Francis shares that the Charismatics have grown on him, particularly as he discovered the good they did for Catholics and the Church.