Catholic Charismatic Renewal celebrate 50th anniversary in Rome

Charles and Sue Whitehead, with Myles Dempsey (in wheelchair) in St Peter's Square and other participants

Kristina Cooper reflects on the growth of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement, who celebrated their 50th anniversary in Rome last week.

Unity For Mission.

Many lay movements and lay ecclesial communities have been birthed since Vatican II. One of the largest of these numerically is the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, which has 120 million people world-wide. Unlike the other movements, Catholic Charismatic Renewal, has no human founder. It is a grace which the Holy Spirit sent at the beginning of the 20th century to re-awaken the charismatic dimension of the faith of the whole body of Christ. A key role in this was played by the Asuza Street Revival in Los Angeles in 1906 which initiated the Pentecostal church. Through this the biblical gifts of healing, tongues and tongues and prophecy were stirred up and once again became common in the lives of Christians. Over the course of the 20th century, this grace spread to the other denominations, first to the Protestant Churches, and finally in 1967 to the Roman Catholic Church, when a small group of students from Duquesne university, were baptised in the Holy Spirit. This retreat was the catalyst to bring this experience of pentecostal grace into the Catholic Church as the students began speaking about what had happened.

Over the last 50 years what became known as the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) has flowered into very different expressions and spread all over the world. Today there are an estimated 120 million adherents bringing conversion, a new enthusiasm for gospel living and a release of prophecy, healing and tongues and other gifts of the Holy Spirit into the lives of ordinary Catholics.

One of those touched by this grace was Pope Francis, when as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires. Although he was initially sceptical of CCR, he came to appreciate its importance and to identify himself with it, as he saw its positive fruits. Far from believing that CCR’s ecumenical roots, are an obstacle for its role in the wider Church, Pope Francis believes that they are significant for the particular calling of CCR to bring about unity in the body of Christ.

Thus it was that Pope Francis invited not only Roman Catholic Charismatics, who this year celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Duquesne weekend, but also Charismatics and Pentecostals of other traditions, to come to celebrate Pentecost with him in Rome. There were talks, gatherings, and evangelistic outreaches all over Rome organised by ICCRS and the Catholic Fraternity, the two main international organisations which link the CCR to the Vatican. Masses were also celebrated in the great basilicas of St John Lateran and St Mary Major for those who managed to squeeze in. The highlight for most, however, apart from the Pentecost Mass in St Peter’s Square, were the two days at the Circus Maximus. This ancient ruined stadium has been used for rock concerts in recent years. This time, however, it was songs of praise that rang out as thousands of charismatics from all corners of the globe filled the ancient ruins worshipping God.

As I looked around, as far as the eye could see there were flags and peoples. About 30,000 people from 127 nations had registered formally, including 50 bishops and more than 800 priests. They had been arriving in Rome since the Wednesday before, filling the streets of Rome with red caps and rucksacks, their smiles and their songs. On the Friday afternoon at Circus Maximus (3rd June 2017), the story of the beginnings of Catholic Charismatic Renewal was told. Patti Mansfield and David Mangan, two of the students who had attended the original Duquesne weekend retreat and had witnessed that first outpouring of grace, told what had happened. Ralph Martin, another of the pioneers in spreading this grace in the Catholic Church, encouraged people to repent of any sins or blockages, which might be stopping the Holy Spirit from flowing in great power in their lives. The evening concluded with a late night Mass under the stars, celebrated by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the head of the new amalgamated Pontifical Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. It was truly magical evening and made all the queuing and waiting and travelling in the sweltering heat worth it.

There was such a multitude there that you couldn’t even see where the crowd ended, as it disappeared into the horizon. This had swelled to 50,000 people by the Saturday, Pentecost Vigil Service. Just as it must have been at the first Pentecost, I was struck by the many nations and cultures, who had travelled literally from the ends of the earth to be there. There were Zambians and those from Cameroon and Kenya. From Chile and Peru and Colombia, from India and Singapore and the Philippines, from the US and Canada and Australia and New Zealand as well as many European countries. Included in the crowd were also several hundred people from England and Wales, fifty from Scotland and two hundred and fifty from Ireland. It felt a bit like World Youth Day, except that there were people of all ages including grannies too, joyfully raising their hands in the air and singing the praises of God.

It was Pope Francis who had asked that the vigil (Saturday 4th June 2017) be held at the Circus Maximus rather than St Peter’s Square. This was because he wanted to underline the common roots all denominations have in the witness of the early Christian martyrs. For it was at this stadium in Roman times that Christians had been thrown to the lions for the entertainment of the crowds. This ecumenical dimension was reflected in the speakers. As well as a presentation from papal preacher, Fr Raniero Cantalamessa OFM Cap, there were also major inputs from Pastor Giovanni Traettino, an Italian evangelical, who has worked for Christian unity for 25 years, and Rev.Vinson Synon, an American Pentecostal, who has been building bridges between his tradition and Roman Catholics since 1972 when he first encountered Roman Catholics speaking in tongues. Unity, Pope Francis emphasised however, was not for its own sake but for evangelisation. “Unity for the mission: not to be static, no! for the mission, to proclaim that Jesus is the Lord,” he said.

We wish to be a reconciled diversity”, he underlined as he spoke about how the Church should relate to other denominations. Referring to the origins of the CCR he said, “It was born ecumenical because it is the Holy Spirit that creates unity and the same Holy Spirit that gave the inspiration for it to be thus.” He spoke of the bond brought about by contemporary Christian martyrs saying that their persecutors didn’t ask what denomination they came from. He referred to this as “the ecumenism of blood.”

Pope Francis, as he has done before underlined that “This current of grace (the charismatic renewal) is for all the Church, not just for some”. He called on the Catholic Charismatic Renewal to “Share with all in the Church the Baptism in the Holy Spirit”, “to remind the Church of the power of prayer and praise” and “to walk together with Christians of different Churches and Communities in prayer and in action for those most in need. Serve the poorest and the sick, this is what the Church and the Pope expect of you.”

See also: ICN 8 June 2017 - Text: Pope's Meditation at Pentecost Vigil for Golden Jubilee of Catholic Charismatic Renewal www.indcatholicnews.com/news/32762

Read more about Catholic Charismatic Renewal here: www.ccr.org.uk