The following comes from a Nov. 24 posting on Aleteia.

Pastor Rick Warren, founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church—an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California—was among the featured presenters at last week’s Vatican-hosted Colloquium on the Complementarity of Man and Woman [Nov. 17-19]….

Warren, one of the most prominent evangelical leaders in the world, is perhaps most widely known as the author of the bestselling books The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life, which has sold over 30 million copies.

Pastor Warren, what has been your impression of this week’s colloquium on the complementarity of man and woman in marriage?

I think it was great because you heard people not only from the streams of Christianity but also non-Christian religions showing solidarity with us about what we call the biblical definition of marriage: one man and one woman for life.

That’s a good thing. Right now in the world, the minority view is getting the majority of press, and you just don’t hear the fact that the vast majority of people believe that marriage is what it’s always been since the Creation: one man and one woman for life.

What have been some of the highlights of the Humanum Colloquium?

Rabbi [Jonathan] Sacks is a friend of mine, and his message was outstanding. [Jacqueline] Rivers’ message was just outstanding. Sister Prudence was just fantastic. She is so brilliant. She’s at such a high level of intellect, and she has an ability to take very complex subjects and summarize them. We benefited from all that she has researched and studied on gender in one single message. After she spoke, I told her: “I’m having you come and teach a seminar at Saddleback Church….”

Is this your first time at the Vatican?

Yes, it is.

What would you say is the significance of this colloquium being held inside the Vatican, so close to the tomb and to the very bones of St. Peter?

Yes. In the first place, it is so historic as the center of one billion Catholics. Even for non-Catholics, our roots are all the same. For 1000 years, there wasn’t any other kind of Christian.

The point is that we all have these same great saints in our lives. I think the beauty is that we have far more in common than we have what separates us. When you think about it, what is a Christian? They believe in the Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They believe in the Resurrection. They believe in the Bible. They believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins. If you believe those things, we’re on the same team. We may have different disagreements on other issues, but if you love Jesus Christ, you’re my brother, my sister.

That unity was shown here. The sanctity of sex, the sanctity of life, the sanctity of marriage—every true Christian will agree on those. They may disagree on other things, but they will agree on that. And they’ll say that we have to work together because we’re more effective and better together than we are apart.

To read the entire interview, click here.