ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has joined thousands of Charismatic Catholics, Pentecostals and evangelicals at a rousing rally aimed at showing Christians united in prayer.

Francis actually joined in the singing — a rarity for a pope who professes to be tone deaf — and raised his arms up at the end of the vigil on the Circus Maximus in Rome.

More than his predecessors, Francis has embraced the charismatic wing of the Catholic Church, even though as a young Jesuit he dismissed charismatics as a "samba school."

Saturday's event signaled that he sees charismatics as key actors in bridging the Christian divide with the churches that often are the main competitors for souls in Africa, Asia and South America.

Francis told the crowd: "We have differences, but we want to have reconciled diversity."