By Sheena George
Some professors of Duquesne
University, a Catholic university in Pittsburgh, USA,
who were searching for a spiritual experience, attended the Congress of
the Cursillo movement in August 1966. Here, they were introduced to the book
‘The Cross and the Switchblade’ written by David Wilkerson which emphasized the
Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s charisms. This book became the focus of their
studies and further led them to pursue the Holy Spirit and the Baptism in the
Holy Spirit.
On a cold winter day in
January 1967, Ralph Keifer and Patrick Bourgeois, professors from Duquesne University,
attended a unsupervised prayer meeting in Pittsburgh
where they received the baptism in the Holy Spirit -- a pentecostal experience
in the Catholic Church.
It didn’t stop there. The following week,
Keifer laid hands on other Duquesne professors, and they also had an experience
with the Spirit. One month later in February, during a prayer meeting at Duquesne University, more people including
students asked Keifer to pray over them. This led to the event at the chapel
where they too received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. This news reached
the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, where a similar event later occurred,
and the Renewal began to spread in the Catholic Church.
The year 2017 will
mark the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Renewal fire in the Catholic
church. The groundwork for the Charismatic renewal started in 1966, one year
before the Pittsburgh
prayer meeting.
“Pat (Bourgeois) and I asked to be prayed with
for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They broke up into several groups because
they were praying over several people. They simply asked me to make an act of
faith for the power of the Spirit to work in me. I prayed in tongues rather
quickly," Keifer wrote about the prayer meeting.
The rest is history. Charismatic Renewal is now strong in India with Kerala leading the way.
The rest is history. Charismatic Renewal is now strong in India with Kerala leading the way.
Ten years later in 1977, Divine Retreat Centre
in Potta, started by Rev Fr Mathew Naickomparambill and other priests from the
Vincentian Congregation, played a leading role in the spread of Renewal
in India,
especially in Kerala. Today, Divine Retreat Centre is the largest Catholic
retreat centre in the world. “Since 1990, over 10 million pilgrims from all
over the world have attended retreats here. Weekly retreats in 7 languages are
held non-stop every week of the year. It is truly an achievement possible only
by the grace of God,” says its website.
The Catholic Church
gave its stamp of approval. Four popes have acknowledged the movement: Pope
Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis. Pope Paul VI said
the movement brought vitality and joy to the Church and also urged for people
to be discerning of the spirits. Speaking at the International Conference on
the Catholic Charismatic Renewal on May 19, 1975, Pope Paul VI encouraged the
attendees in their renewal efforts and especially to remain anchored in the
Church.
Pope John Paul II also supported the Renewal. John Paul II -- as well as then-Cardinal Ratzinger who is now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI -- acknowledged good aspects of the movement but emphasised that members must maintain their Catholic identity and communion with the Catholic Church. “I am convinced that this movement is a very important component of the entire renewal of the Church,” John Paul II said while speaking to a group of international leaders of the Renewal on December 11, 1979. “I can understand all these charisms. They are all part of the richness of the Lord. I am convinced that this movement is a sign of His action,” he said.
On November 30, 1990, the Pontifical Council for the Laity promulgated the decree which inaugurated the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships. Brian Smith of Brisbane, elected President of the Executive of the Fraternity, called the declaration the most significant event in the history of the charismatic renewal since the 1975 Holy Year international conference and the acknowledgment it received from Pope Paul VI at that time. "It is the first time that the Renewal has had formal, canonical recognition by the Vatican,” Smith said.
“At the heart of a world imbued with a rationalistic skepticism, a new experience of the Holy Spirit suddenly burst forth. And, since then, that experience has assumed a breadth of a worldwide Renewal movement. What the New Testament tells us about the charisms - which were seen as visible signs of the coming of the Spirit - is not just ancient history, over and done with, for it is once again becoming extremely topical,” Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote in the forward to a book by Cardinal Suenens, at that time the Pope's delegate to the Charismatic Renewal.
Catholic Church has not looked back after Vatican supported the movement. Priests from Syro-Malabar Catholic Church from Kerala are in the forefront of spreading Charismatic Renewal across the world.
“The charismatic renewal movement became the most formidable religious revival of the 20th century: a global phenomenon that had left almost no Christian community untouched by the time it began to taper off in the mid-1970s,” writes Molly Worthen, Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. “Protestants and Catholics who had always preferred calm and ‘respectable’ worship, who viewed Pentecostals as their embarrassing cousins, embraced Pentecostal practices like praying in tongues, divine healing, and surrendering physical control of their bodies to the Holy Spirit,” Worthen said.
WHAT’S CHARISMATIC?
The word "charismatic" comes from the Greek word for "gift." There are many charisms, and God distributes them differently to different people. 1 Corinthians 7:7 shows us that everyone "has a particular gift (charisma) from God, one of one kind and one of another."
Catechism of Catholic Church (CCC) says, “whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world.” Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the person who receives them and by all members of the Church as well. They are a wonderfully rich grace for the apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with authentic promptings of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with charity, the true measure of all charisms, CCC says.
According to CCC, it is in this sense that discernment of charisms is always necessary. No charism is exempt from being referred and submitted to the Church's shepherds. "Their office (is) not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to what is good," so that all the diverse and complementary charisms work together "for the common good."
It’s all about shedding your old self and becoming a new person in Spirit. Ephesians 4:22-24 sys, “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
According to Italian author and journalist Alessandra Nucci, Pope Francis’ frequent mentions of the Holy Spirit -- whom he has described as someone who “annoys us” and “moves us, makes us walk, pushes the Church to move forward” -- as well as his unprecedentedly frequent references to the devil (rather than to a generic “evil”), indicate his affinity for the Charismatic Renewal. “The election of such a back-to-basics man as Supreme Pontiff provides us with an opportunity to look at the road traveled by the Charismatic Renewal and to “hold on to what is good” (1 Thess 5:21),” Nucci writes.
That said, it’s beyond any doubt that Charismatic Renewal, which started nearly 50 years ago, has brought about new hope and life in Spirit among millions of people across the world. We’re living witnesses to this great work of our Lord. This is a Fire that will last till the end of the world. It’s Pentacostal Fire.
References: 1. Crux Catholic Media; 2. Catechism of Catholic Church; 3. EWTN, USA; 4. Archives of Duquesne University; 5. Catholic Family News
Pope John Paul II also supported the Renewal. John Paul II -- as well as then-Cardinal Ratzinger who is now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI -- acknowledged good aspects of the movement but emphasised that members must maintain their Catholic identity and communion with the Catholic Church. “I am convinced that this movement is a very important component of the entire renewal of the Church,” John Paul II said while speaking to a group of international leaders of the Renewal on December 11, 1979. “I can understand all these charisms. They are all part of the richness of the Lord. I am convinced that this movement is a sign of His action,” he said.
On November 30, 1990, the Pontifical Council for the Laity promulgated the decree which inaugurated the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships. Brian Smith of Brisbane, elected President of the Executive of the Fraternity, called the declaration the most significant event in the history of the charismatic renewal since the 1975 Holy Year international conference and the acknowledgment it received from Pope Paul VI at that time. "It is the first time that the Renewal has had formal, canonical recognition by the Vatican,” Smith said.
“At the heart of a world imbued with a rationalistic skepticism, a new experience of the Holy Spirit suddenly burst forth. And, since then, that experience has assumed a breadth of a worldwide Renewal movement. What the New Testament tells us about the charisms - which were seen as visible signs of the coming of the Spirit - is not just ancient history, over and done with, for it is once again becoming extremely topical,” Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote in the forward to a book by Cardinal Suenens, at that time the Pope's delegate to the Charismatic Renewal.
Catholic Church has not looked back after Vatican supported the movement. Priests from Syro-Malabar Catholic Church from Kerala are in the forefront of spreading Charismatic Renewal across the world.
“The charismatic renewal movement became the most formidable religious revival of the 20th century: a global phenomenon that had left almost no Christian community untouched by the time it began to taper off in the mid-1970s,” writes Molly Worthen, Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. “Protestants and Catholics who had always preferred calm and ‘respectable’ worship, who viewed Pentecostals as their embarrassing cousins, embraced Pentecostal practices like praying in tongues, divine healing, and surrendering physical control of their bodies to the Holy Spirit,” Worthen said.
WHAT’S CHARISMATIC?
The word "charismatic" comes from the Greek word for "gift." There are many charisms, and God distributes them differently to different people. 1 Corinthians 7:7 shows us that everyone "has a particular gift (charisma) from God, one of one kind and one of another."
Catechism of Catholic Church (CCC) says, “whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world.” Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the person who receives them and by all members of the Church as well. They are a wonderfully rich grace for the apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with authentic promptings of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with charity, the true measure of all charisms, CCC says.
According to CCC, it is in this sense that discernment of charisms is always necessary. No charism is exempt from being referred and submitted to the Church's shepherds. "Their office (is) not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to what is good," so that all the diverse and complementary charisms work together "for the common good."
It’s all about shedding your old self and becoming a new person in Spirit. Ephesians 4:22-24 sys, “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
According to Italian author and journalist Alessandra Nucci, Pope Francis’ frequent mentions of the Holy Spirit -- whom he has described as someone who “annoys us” and “moves us, makes us walk, pushes the Church to move forward” -- as well as his unprecedentedly frequent references to the devil (rather than to a generic “evil”), indicate his affinity for the Charismatic Renewal. “The election of such a back-to-basics man as Supreme Pontiff provides us with an opportunity to look at the road traveled by the Charismatic Renewal and to “hold on to what is good” (1 Thess 5:21),” Nucci writes.
That said, it’s beyond any doubt that Charismatic Renewal, which started nearly 50 years ago, has brought about new hope and life in Spirit among millions of people across the world. We’re living witnesses to this great work of our Lord. This is a Fire that will last till the end of the world. It’s Pentacostal Fire.
References: 1. Crux Catholic Media; 2. Catechism of Catholic Church; 3. EWTN, USA; 4. Archives of Duquesne University; 5. Catholic Family News
