Editor's Note: To submit a faith question to Catholic Exchange, email href=”mailto:jtaylor@catholicexchange.com”>jtaylor@catholicexchange.com. Please note that all email submitted to Catholic Exchange becomes the property of Catholic Exchange and may be published in this space. Published letters may be edited for length and clarity. Names and cities of letter writers may also be published. Email addresses of viewers will not normally be published.
Dear Catholic Exchange:
Has the charismatic movement been officially recognized by the Church?
God bless,
Tony Smith
Dear Mr. Smith,
Peace in Christ! In general, the Church has encouraged the charismatic renewal, provided it is properly grounded in Church teaching and submissive to Church authority. Meeting with more than 1,000 international charismatic leaders in October 1998, the Holy Father addressed this issue. He exhorted them: “The enthusiastic faith which gives life to your communities must be accompanied by a sound formation in the Christian faith, faithful to the teachings of the Church.” He also urged them to “safeguard their Catholic identity” and preserve the proper relationships with their local bishops and with the Vatican.
In the past, there have been problems regarding teaching and authority in some “covenant communities” associated with the renewal, but these problems have been largely addressed. Popes Paul VI and John Paul II have expressed their support of the Catholic charismatic renewal. Pope Paul VI, in 1975, personally invited the renewal to hold its annual conference in Rome. In 1979, Pope John Paul II told charismatic leaders meeting in Rome, “I am convinced that his movement is a sign of the Spirit’s action . . . a very important component in the total renewal of the Church” (Open the Windows, p. 26). For further information on papal statements supporting the charismatic renewal within the Church, we suggest the book Open the Windows: The Popes and the Charismatic Renewal, edited by Kilian McDonnell (Greenlawn Press). Many papal statements are also available online at the Vatican website, search under “charismatic.”
Following the lead of Popes Paul VI and John Paul II, the Catholic bishops of many countries—including the United States—have encouraged the efforts of the charismatic renewal while urging close collaboration with Church authorities. In 1969, two years after the renewal began, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops “affirmed the good fruits of the renewal.” The bishops of the United States, in their 1984 pastoral letter to the American Church on the charismatic renewal, wrote “[T]he charismatic renewal is rooted in the witness of the gospel tradition: Jesus is Lord by the power of the Spirit to the glory of the Father.” In 1997, the bishops “encourage[d] those in the renewal . . . to continue in faithful cooperation with the mission and the vision of the local Church in which they serve.” (The above quotes are drawn from Grace for the New Springtime, published by the U.S. Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Catholic Renewal; call (800) 235-8722 for the document’s availability or visit the Catholic Charismatic Renewal website.
If you have further questions on this or would like more information about Catholics United for the Faith, please contact us at 1-800-MY-FAITH (693-2484). Please keep us in your prayers as we endeavor to “support, defend, and advance the efforts of the teaching Church.”
United in the Faith,
Amy Barragree
Information Specialist
Catholics United for the Faith
827 North Fourth Street
Steubenville, OH 43952
800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484)
