|
The way forward and the challenges for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
Archbishop Kevin McDonald of Southwark, shares what he sees as the way forward for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and its contribution to the Church. (part 2 of a talk given at the Newman Consultation in June 2005)
|
|
|
Let me now enumerate some of the things that are characteristic of Charismatic Renewal. It is important to be aware and to take stock of these things, always remembering, as I have said, that what God does in the context of Charismatic Renewal is part of the wider picture of God's saving work in the Church and in the world. But, the Renewal has played a role in developing awareness of these realities in the wider Church. - a focus on Jesus Christ and on his Lordship: a personal
relationship with our living and glorious Lord. Where are we now? But I come back to the questionnaire. Has all this flagged somewhat? Where are we now? If it is the case, as the questions might seem to imply, that the Renewal has in some respects run out of steam, then, as I've already intimated, this experience is not unique. We live in a highly secularised society and one in which there is definite anti-Christian and anti-Catholic bias evident in certain sections of the media. That is why the media coverage of the death of Pope John Paul and the election of Pope Benedict was such a tonic. The coverage was positive and we saw pictures of Catholics, many of them young, who were spontaneous, natural, and enthusiastic in their faith. Also the Church has suffered because of scandals. There has been a degree of bruising and some loss of confidence. That has affected us all. Of course there are many, many positive signs - signs of life and signs of growth - both in the Church generally and in the Renewal. But I think the phenomenon of falling numbers at prayer groups is particularly difficult for people who strongly believe the Holy Spirit's power to give life here and now. The cross with its shame and failure are part of our story What I want to put to you, however, is that the cross, its shame, and its failure, are part of our story; part of the story of each one of us and part of the story of the Church, and part of the story of the Renewal. One of the things I often say is that there never was a "Golden Age" of the Church. Our history has always been marked by failure, by sin and by the need for forgiveness. There has always been a struggle between the powers of darkness and the powers of light. Christian life is marked indelibly by the Cross. Perhaps that needs to be understood and appropriated more deeply. Catholic Charismatic Renewal and Academic Theology There has been a lot of theological reflection on Charismatic Renewal but there is something of a disjunction between the concerns of academic theology and the concerns of the Renewal. It may be partly because the Renewal tends to take for granted the possibility and reality of faith. One of the criticisms of Charismatic Christianity and of the catechetical programmes that derive from it is that it does not engage or seek to respond to the critique of religion posed by secular post-modern culture. We are strong in the proclamation of our faith but weak in presenting the philosophical grounds for faith. Perhaps Charismatic Renewal does not receive a great deal of attention from academic theology because it seems to prescind from issues to do with the possibility of faith in the world today with which theology is very much concerned. For this reason some Catholics see the Renewal as an inadequate basis for catechetics and apologetics. The talk about "experience" can seem subjective and lacking in intellectual rigour. There are questions here. As Catholics, our articulation of our faith cannot be an enclosed system but must engage with the questions posed by contemporary culture. By the same token, academic theology has not perhaps taken up the issues raised by the Renewal as much as we might have wished. There are, of course, significant exceptions but this, too, is something that we should keep in mind. Interaction between the charismatic and institutional aspects of the Church essential Let me first mention one topic that often exercises me: the relationship between the operation of the Holy Spirit in the sacraments and the experience of the Holy Spirit in the Renewal: the relationship between the gifts of the Holy Spirit given in Confirmation and the gifts received in the context of the Renewal; the relation between the ministries exercised in the Renewal and the official ministry of the Church. These issues I suggest need further prayerful pondering and theological reflection. We've come back again to the relationship between the charismatic and institutional dimensions of the life of the Church. This kind of interaction and dialectic is vital for the Charismatic Renewal in the life of the Church. We are part of the whole life of the Church and our language and our understanding of our Christian life should never be isolated from the wider life of the Church. It can happen that people in the Renewal, without realising it, use a language which other Catholics find alienating. Importance of Dialogue One word that focuses this point well is the word "dialogue". Pope Paul VI's encyclical Ecclesiam Suam, together with documents of Vatican II like Lumen Gentium, Unitatis Redintegratio and Nostra Aetate, present and promote what I would call a dialogical understanding of what it means to be a Catholic in the world today. Some people are uneasy with this because they think it will inevitably involve a weakening of the specificity of Catholic faith. It is important to stress that the success of the whole enterprise of dialogue depends on there not being any such weakening. It must precisely derive from and be shaped by our Trinitarian faith. Inter-Faith dialogue, with which I am personally concerned, has adopted a twofold emphasis on dialogue and proclamation. In all our teaching and catechesis we must be fully faithful to the Catholic tradition while being genuinely open to the work of the Spirit, of course in other Christian Communions but also among members of other religions and in all people of good will. Globalisation and its effects This combination and this tension is especially important in our era of globalisation, and it may be useful to see this point within that perspective. People have immediate access to information about all Churches and religions and we are constantly exposed to the forces of secularisation. This is the world in which our young people grow up. They are exposed to forces and influences that come from outside home or school to a far greater extent than previous generations. Globalisation is often seen as a negative thing: as the imposition of the political and economic agenda of rich countries on the rest of the world. That is certainly a reality. But let us also remember that the Catholic Church is the largest international organisation in the world and is growing all the time. At the time of Pope John Paul's death, one of the Rome correspondents, Gerry O'Connell, said that of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, the majority are poor, non-white, and young. Globalisation refers to all the manifold ways in which life on earth is now internally connected and interdependent. It was very evident when Pope John Paul died that people of every religion and none recognised him as a figure of huge importance for the whole human community. As well as confirming Catholics in their faith he extended the hand of friendship to other Christians, other religions and all people of good will. An open and dialogical attitude should characterise our mission and our witness in the new global age. Dialogue and Proclamation go hand in hand. So I commend to you an attitude of dialogue as going hand in hand with evangelisation. In both activities we proclaim our own faith and listen to the workings of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those with whom we are speaking. Catholic Charismatic Renewal is integral to the whole life of the Church Finally, I wish to return to the institutional-charismatic
dialectic which I spoke of earlier. In pointing to the future, I want
to stress the point that Charismatic Renewal is integral to the whole
life of the Church. I quoted from the Pope's address to members of new
movements and ecclesial communities in 1998. As I indicated, Charismatic
Renewal is not a movement as such: it is a grace, an action of the Holy
Spirit in the Church, and it is recognised as such by the Church. Indeed,
it is explicitly affirmed in the Decree of the Holy See in 1993 approving
the statutes of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services.
The preamble says: And this recognition of its nature should be seen in
the context of a whole series of papal statements affirming and encouraging
the Catholic Charismatic Renewal which are published together in the
collection: "Then Peter Stood Up". Let me just briefly quote
two: one thirty years ago and one much more recent. In 1975 Pope Paul
VI addressed the Catholic Charismatic Renewal on the occasion of the
Second International Leaders' Conference. He said: This is my prayer, too. Thank you.
|
|
|
 |
