Tony Palmer, bishop of the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, and one of leading proponents of dialogue between Evangelicals and Catholics, passed away following motorcycle accident on Sunday.
He was a close friend to Pope Francis. They met in 2006, during an ecumenical gathering in Buenos Aires. In January, he used his cell phone to record the Pope's message for an Evangelical conference in the United States.
TONY PALMER
'I said: 'Do you want me to write it down?' He said: 'Why don't you take a video?' I had this in the back of my mind. I had my iPhone, I always have my iPhone... I had it in the back of my mind to ask him, but I didn't want to abuse our friendship.â?
POPE FRANCIS
'Pray to the Lord for unity. Let's go forward, we are brothers and we spiritually embrace each other. May the Lord complete the work He has begun.â?
Tony Palmer was married and had two children. Several weeks ago, he had lunch with Pope Francis at the Vatican, along with with several other Evangelical pastors.
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