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News News from the British Isles and around the world
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Kristina Cooper reports on the
day of celebration held at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 5th May,
to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Over two thousand people crammed into Westminster Cathedral for this special day of celebration. Despite the ticketing lots of people initially didn’t get a seat, as many of the regular 10.30 Mass goers at the Cathedral unexpectedly decided to stay on and see what the day was all about. This had a good side as it allowed those who didn’t know about CCR to experience it at its best.
One man, who is a professional chauffeur for a top London hotel, had never attended a charismatic function before and was very moved by what he experienced. He said that he was on standby, and although Saturday was usually a very busy day for him, he didn’t receive one call and was able to attend the whole day. Three people who had been at the event turned up the following Friday at the Westminster Cathedral prayer meeting, and one gave testimony of how he didn’t know anything about CCR but after experiencing the fervour of the day, he felt compelled to find out more about it. Participants came from all over the UK in cars, coaches, buses and trains. About 20 people from Scotland, including Tom Mullen and members of the Scottish National Service Team came, as well as Fran Graham from Welsh NSC. Helen Smith and her husband Jamus, (see page 10) flew down from Aberdeen and the Clifton Diocesan Service Team hired a coach to bring people down the west country. As in the northern event held earlier in the year at Trinity and All Saints, the atmosphere of the day was fantastic. There were cries of delight and screams as people who hadn’t seen each other for years recognised each other and hugged, like some gigantic family gathering of long lost cousins. The day, was hosted by Michelle Moran, the chairperson of the English NSC, who has just been elected as President of ICCRS, the international CCR leadership body which liaises with the Vatican. The music, which was an anointed mixture of old and new, was led by Eamon and Dominic and their band, while Kate Moir and her team from the Westminster Cathedral prayer group did a lot of on the ground, organising the teas and stewarding etc. The morning began with a fascinating account of the beginnings
of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal by husband and wife team, Kevin
and Dorothy Ranaghan from the People of Praise community in the US (see
page 4). They ended their presentation with an assessment of what they
saw as the key components of the CCR at the beginning. These were : As this had been important at the beginning, they stressed that these components needed to continue to be kept at the forefront if Charismatic Renewal was to continue to be a force for renewal in the Church. At 12.30pm there was Mass concelebrated with Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor and a host of priests. In his homily the Cardinal expressed his amazement at the numbers present and thanked those in the charismatic renewal for their contribution to the Church in parish life and in service to the poor. “Thank you for being witnesses and answering the call to be witnesses to Jesus and to the gifts of the spirit of Jesus which has been given to you.”
After lunch there was a brief testimony by Linda Schubert, the author of the best-seller “Miracle Hour” prayer book, who shared how God can use us if we are humble and open to his Holy Spirit. Charles Whitehead, the former English NSC chairman, then introduced the various ecumenical guests who had been invited to contribute their thoughts. These included John Noble, a respected house church leader, Nicky Gumbel, the author of the Alpha course, Fr Michael Harper, now an Orthodox priest, who was one of the first charismatic/evangelical Anglicans to work with Catholics in the 1970s, Rev Martin Cavenar from Anglican Resource ministries and Rev David Matthews, a regular speaker at CCR events, who all shared about their own involvement in the CCR. Remember your beginnings For all of them the CCR had been instrumental in them coming into relationship with Catholics for the first time, which had been a mutually enriching process. Equally Catholic Charismatic Renewal has benefited enormously from the work of these men. As he finished David Matthews said, “I think the Holy Spirit is saying to the CCR, “Remember your beginnings. This is not a call to the good old days but I think it would be a worthwhile exercise to examine what God did in the beginning because that tells you what He wants done now.” He challenged the CCR that it had walked away from ecumenism when it had become difficult. “ I feel the Holy Spirit is calling us back to the pain and joy of ecumenism. It is time to be one again, not just in conferences. It is time again to do what God is doing,” he said (see page 26). The final input of the day was given by papal preacher Fr Raniero Cantalamessa OFM Cap. He put aside his prepared text as he said he felt the Spirit was saying that rather than hear a talk about the CCR, what we as a body really needed most of all was to experience once again the reality of Pentecost in our lives. Instead he took us through the biblical text of Acts II encouraging us, to open ourselves with expectant faith to the power of the words so they would become a reality in our own lives as they had been for the hearers 2000 years ago in Jerusalem. The key to the CCR he said was this personal individual experience of the love of God that transformed a person’s life and made the Christian life a joy and not a burden. “Let us ask the Holy Spirit for more love in our hearts,” he said, “in spite of what we are, so we can experience a new Pentecost.” Most religions, he said, told men what they had to do. But Christianity instead tells them what God has done for them. “We live in a religion of grace,” he said. In the post Christian world we were living in, he said, we needed to get back to the Kerygma, to the proclamation of Jesus, who alone can save. He also called on people to repent for the ways that they had worked for their own glory instead of the Lord’s. ICCRS new president
Today, ICCRS has official Vatican statutes and works in communion with the Holy See. It acts as a link or bridge between the worldwide Renewal and the institutional Church. Due to the spontaneous, Spirit led, nature of the Renewal ICCRS acts as a channel of communication, and service rather than as a governing body. ICCRS runs events and produces resources that offer encouragement, teaching and training. They are also available to offer pastoral advice and are willing to be of service in any way to the worldwide Renewal. ICCRS relates to the Vatican through the Pontifical Council of the Laity (PCL). At the recent Council meeting Arch- bishop Rylko, the President of the PCL complemented ICCRS on a number of its recent initiatives. These included the Formation Institute held in Rome for three weeks in June, the work of the ICCRS Theological Commission which has recently produced some guidelines on the healing ministry, and the 2008 Colloquium on the Charisms where practitioners in the Renewal will meet with Vatican officials and explore together the place and use of the Charisms in the Church today. All these initiatives comply with the request of John Paul II that all the movements should engage in the process of growing in Ecclesial Maturity. As the new president of ICCRS Michelle says she will build on the solid foundations that have already been laid. She will also seek to find ways in which the next generation of leaders in Renewal can be identified, trained and raised up. Reflecting on the timing of her recent election Michelle says, ‘I sense there is something symbolic about taking over the presidency during this 40th anniversary year. In the Renewal we have been formed, we have grown as a movement of the Spirit but we are now entering into a new land and this in turn will present us with both new opportunities and new challenges. So I am excited about all that the Lord has in store for us. I pray for the Joshua anointing that I may be able to be fearless and confident trusting in the Lord and that He will lead all of us forward step by step.’ Let’s keep Michelle and all the work of ICCRS in our prayers.
A chance email sent to Geoff and Gina Poulter, directors of the Catholic Bible School (CBS) near Chichester has led to them providing bible study material for small groups in Malaysia. Bro Cassian Pappu, a De La Salle brother in Kuala Lumpur, working in catechetics was looking for something to help him in his work and came across the long distance learning material that the CBS produce. He was impressed and the CBS offered to donate a complete set of 10 modules of their Living Word Material to Brother Cassian. The De La Salle order has established a new organisation “CBS Living Word,” which is now affiliated to the Catholic Bible School and has been granted a licence to copy and distribute their material for Malaysia. The initiative has the full support of the archbishop of Kuala Lumpur and earlier this year diplomas and certificates for the first 14 students to complete the material were awarded (see picture).
Other dioceses in Malaysia are now expressing an interest in the course. In the last few months, discussions have also begun with a new school of theology that is being established in Mauritius, who will also be using the Living Word programme as their core Scripture course. All this has been made possible through the financial support that the CBS receives in the UK. If you are interested in knowing more about their Gideon’s Army planned giving campaign please get in touch with them on 01243 371766 or www.catholic-bible-school.og
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Michelle
Moran, the Chairperson of the English NSC, has just been elected the
new president of ICCRS. She succeeds Allan Panozza from Australia who
has been president since 2000 and, of course, before that Charles Whitehead
was president. ICCRS began in 1978, when Cardinal Suenens was named
by Pope Paul VI as his Episcopal advisor to the Charismatic Renewal
on the international level. The Council was formed from leaders around
the world and an office was established, this was initially in Brussels
and eventually moved to the Vatican.