I
have never doubted that the Holy Spirit is active in the institutional
Church just as much as in our individual lives. It's essential for
the well-being of the whole body that there's a balance and a tension
between the hierarchical and charismatic dimensions of the life of
the Church. Problems soon arise if either part becomes too dominant
- too much structure can easily strangle the life it is supposed to
sustain, whilst too much charismatic activity and too many personal
revelations can cause confusion and distortion. So it's very important
that we who have experienced the powerful working of the Holy Spirit
also appreciate the way he works through the hierarchy and the official
structures of the Church, both at local and international levels.
If we want to see signs of the Spirit at work, we need look no further
than the great debate about charisms at the Second Vatican Council,
which resulted in the statement in Lumen Gentium 12:-
"It is not only through the sacraments
and ministries of the Church that the Holy Spirit makes holy the people,
leads them and enriches them with his virtues. Allotting his gifts
according as he wills, he also distributes special graces among the
faithful of every rank …. He makes them fit and ready to undertake
various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church."
Through this clear statement, the Spirit prepared the
Church to first accept and then welcome the Charismatic Renewal when
it burst into her life with such power in 1967. Surely this was also
part of the answer to Pope John XXIII's prayer as he prepared for
the Council "Come Holy Spirit, renew your wonders in this our
day - give us a new Pentecost."
"A Chance for the Church and for the World"
No grass-roots movement in the Church ever travelled
as far, as fast, and as powerfully as the Charismatic Renewal. It
was and remains unlike any other movement, for there is no inspired
human founder and no common programmes of initiation and formation.
It is simply, powerfully, uniquely and beautifully a sovereign work
of God. The lives of countless millions have been touched, bringing
new faith and vision, and setting them on fire with a love and zeal
to serve him and his people.
As far back as 1975 Pope Paul VI welcomed and publicly
affirmed the Catholic Charismatic Renewal when he received and addressed
ten thousand charismatics who had gathered at St. Peter's for an international
conference. He memorably described the Renewal as "a chance for
the Church and for the world." Since then Pope John Paul II has
frequently spoken positively and encouragingly about the fruit it
has born in the life of the Church, as have many bishops, cardinals
and bishops' conferences. All this is very helpful, but when I look
back over the last 35 years, I believe the most important sign of
Church approval was the granting of Statutes to the International
Catholic Charismatic Renewal Council in 1993. Why do I highlight this,
when successive Popes had already said such positive things?
Formal recognition
Until
I became President of the International Council in 1990, I had never
given much thought to formal recognition of the Charismatic Renewal
by the Holy See. I had always believed it was important to have approval
from local bishops, but I suppose I was slightly afraid that approval
by the Holy See would involve a lot of formalities and restrictions.
Would the moving of the Spirit be helped or hindered? It would anyway
be quite impossible to officially approve everything that called itself
"Charismatic Renewal", so how would it work? But as President
of the International Council I had to think about it more carefully,
and the Lord began to show me that it was really important to go into
the whole question very thoroughly. Why? Because it was still all
too common for the Charismatic Renewal to be dismissed by laity and
clergy alike on the grounds that it was not really Catholic, or was
something best kept at the fringes of the Church for those strange
emotional people who liked that sort of thing. Clergy were able not
only to ignore it, but to restrict and in some cases suppress it.
The granting of some sort of formal recognition from Rome would make
such views officially untenable. So as a Council we raised the question
of formal recognition with Bishop Paul Cordes of the Pontifical Council
for Laity - our official advisor, appointed by Pope John Paul II.
He responded very positively, and so began the long process of working
on a document which would be acceptable to the International Council
acting on behalf of the world-wide Catholic Charismatic Renewal, and
to the Council for Laity, acting on behalf of the Church hierarchy.
"ICCRS - a Body for the Promotion of the CCR"
The Statutes, if approved, would be those of the International
Council, so the main work in preparing them fell to a small sub-committee
of Councillors, guided by canon lawyers of our own choosing. Drafts
were prepared, circulated, amended and circulated again. Occasionally
the Council for Laity would suggest a change after consulting their
own experts until finally the Statutes were ready for consideration
by other Vatican dicasteries before receiving final approval on September
14th 1993. They were officially presented to me as President by Cardinal
Pironio on September 21st, in the presence of our Council and representatives
of the Pontifical Council for Laity. Henceforth we were to describe
ourselves as the Council of ICCRS - International Catholic Charismatic
Renewal Services. Our membership, electoral procedures, individual
responsibilities, mission and manner of working were all carefully
documented. We had written what I still regard as a remarkable and
inspired preamble to the document, explaining what the Charismatic
Renewal is and is not, and the Holy See accompanied the Statutes with
a Decree. This gave a clear endorsement to the CCR and "the recognition
of ICCRS as a body for the promotion of the CCR, with a juridical
personality according to Canon 116, approving their statutes in their
original form."
At the Heart of the Church
In many ways, it is the words of the Decree that are
the most important for the wider Church. When ICCRS was recognised
as a body for the promotion of the CCR, it provided the background
for national and local expressions of the Renewal to seek acceptance
and approval for their own activities. From September 1993, the Catholic
Charismatic Renewal could not be dismissed out of hand - it was now
recognised as being at the heart of the life of the Church. Of course
there are still errors and aberrations in some places, but these must
be addressed locally and in the particular rather than rejected on
principle. When I look back on my ten years as President, the official
recognition of ICCRS and the granting of Statutes has to be one of
the most significant and far-reaching events.
"New Strength and Missionary Zeal"
Of course none of these approvals mean that the CCR
is now expected to stop talking about, teaching and ministering those
things some people still find uncomfortable - like Baptism in the
Spirit, tongues, prophecy, healing and evangelisation. Quite the opposite,
in fact. Many of the official endorsements of the CCR make specific
references to the gifts and fruit which are evident in people's lives,
and the Church accepts the need for the charisms, which characterise
the ministry of the CCR. We are to remain a prophetic voice in the
Church and in the world. So let's continue to be faithful to the Lord's
call, remembering these words Pope John Paul II addressed to representatives
of the CCR and the movements assembled in St. Peter's Square on the
eve of Pentecost 1998:-
"Come, Holy Spirit, and make ever more fruitful
the charisms you have bestowed on us. Give new strength and missionary
zeal to these sons and daughters of yours who have gathered here.
Open their hearts; renew their Christian commitment in the world.
Make them courageous messengers of the Gospel, witnesses to the risen
Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and Saviour of man. Strengthen their love
and fidelity to the Church …… Today from this square, Christ
says to each of you "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel
to the whole creation" (Mark 16:15). He is counting on every
one of you, and so is the Church."
So may we all continue to pray with confidence "Come
Holy Spirit!" as we step out in faith to do what the Church is
asking, secure in the knowledge that we have her confidence, approval
and blessing.
Editor:- ICCRS has published a very useful book "Then
Peter stood up …" which contains a collection of the words
spoken to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal by Popes Paul VI and
John Paul II from its origin to the year 2000. It also contains
the Statutes of ICCRS, and a worldwide survey on the CCR.
