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According to Cardinal Walter Kasper, the head of the Vatican's relations with other Christians the church needs to undergo a

"self-critical pastoral examination of conscience" to confront the "exponential" rise of Pentecostal movements

According to the Detroit News at a meeting of the world's cardinals Kasper said

"We shouldn't begin by asking ourselves what is wrong with the Pentecostals, but what our own pastoral shortcomings are"

he added that the evangelical and charismatic groups count for 400 million church attenders around the world.

The Vatican describes Protestant evangelicals as "sects" in Latin America, Africa and other countries. Just in Brazil alone in the 1960s Roman Catholics were about 90 percent of the population but by 2005 they were down to only 67 percent.

The meeting was held the evening before a ceremony to elevate 23 new cardinals. Pope Benedict XVI asked the cardinals to come to Rome for a discussion on church concerns.

This year the meeting was focused on what the relations are with other Christians particularly the Eastern Orthodox, Protestant and Pentecostal movements.

According to Kasper the "aggressive" evangelical movements have complicated the church's ecumenical task.
Kasper stated that ecumenism is an obligation not an option.