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The Contribution of
Kristina Cooper reflects on the contribution of
the Catholic Charismatic Renewal to the renewal of the Catholic Church
and the way forward.
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“Baptism in the Holy Spirit” Underpinning the CCR is a shared spiritual experience known as “Baptism in the Spirit”. This is a renewal of the experience of Pentecost in the life of the believer, who begins to experience the Holy Spirit empowering him with the same gifts and power as the first apostles had, as well as a great love of Scripture, prayer and praise of God. Spontaneous examples of this began to arise among Roman Catholics in the 1960s. This was often due to Catholics praying with Pentecostal brothers and sisters, who in their turn had discovered this empowering of the Spirit in the early years of the century, in the Azusa Street Revival in 1906 and the 1904 Welsh Revival.
In February 1967 a group of students from Duquesne university in Pittsburg in the USA experienced the Baptism of the Holy Sprit while on a retreat (see Patti’s article) Afterwards they toured campuses round the country telling others what they had experienced and encouraging their hearers to open themselves up to the Holy Spirit in their lives. One of the key vehicles to help spread the understanding of the Baptism in the Spirit was the Life in the Spirit seminars initially developed by the Word of God community in Ann Arbor in the US. This was simply a representation of the gospel message - God’s love, Christ’s salvation and our need to repent if we wanted to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our lives. “Re-emergence of the biblical charisms in the lives of normal believers” Part of this new move of the Holy Spirit was the re-emergence of the charisms, which St Paul talks about in his letters, including speaking in tongues, healing and prophecy. (cf Rom 12 &.1 Cor. 12)These were considered normal in the Christian life in the early Church but had gradually disappeared from normal church practice or had become institutionalised. Praying for healing for example had evolved into the Sacrament of the Sick, which was used as the final anointing before someone died. Catholic teaching had a well developed theology of suffering, but CCR has helped bring into focus God’s healing power too. This restoration of the healing ministry into the mainstream life of the Church has been a key contribution of the CCR over the last 40 years. CCR initially spread so quickly and so far, precisely because there was no particular structure or controlling authority or entry qualifications. Instead individuals who had experienced the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives began to share with their neighbours the marvels God had done for them: how He had healed them, how He had helped them, how He had given them a love for prayer, for praise and the Scriptures. They would then encourage their listeners in their turn to repent, open themselves up to the Holy Spirit in their lives, and commit themselves more fully to Christ and his message. The personal witness of those touched by the Holy Spirit was a key ingredient to attracting others, as those around them could see the changes in their lives, both spiritually and morally. Instead of it being simply a matter of head knowledge about doctrine and beliefs, charismatic renewal helped the Christian faith to become a real and living reality in people’s every day lives. CCR thus became a huge impetus for evangelisation in the Church both on a one-to-one level and through events and programmes. “Huge impetus for evangelisation” At a time when Vatican II was in its infancy and Catholic practice tended to be confined to the rosary, benediction and Mass going, this was all heady stuff. As there was no precedent for this in Catholic liturgy, these early gatherings initially tended to be modelled on those of the Pentecostal Church or charismatics of other persuasions with praise and worship, personal witness, bible sharing and prayer for healing.Many of these early meetings, were ecumenical, and being non-Eucharistic gatherings it was relatively easy for those of different denominations to be united. Fr Peter Hocken, a historian of this 20th century move of the Holy Spirit, believes these ecumenical roots are intrinsically linked to its calling and that the CCR has been sent by the Lord as part of his plan to restore unity to the body of Christ to prepare for the Second Coming (see page 26) This call to unity seems to be at centre stage once again. At the Newman Consultation, a meeting of leaders of CCR in the UK and Ireland in June 2005, it was identified as one of the key priorities for the CCR in the future, along with reconciliation and the promotion of baptism in the spirit in the Church. Pope Benedict XVI has also underlined Christian unity as one of the key focuses of his pontificate. The Catholic Church has always believed in the use of extraordinary charisms, but in the past they tended to be seen as restricted to special people, “saints”. The lived experience of those involved in the CCR showed, however, that the Holy Spirit was showering these on very ordinary lay people, who had no theological formation, equipping all kinds of people to evangelise and serve the Church. “Transformation of countless people’s lives” However it happened to people, Baptism in the Spirit, has been the key to the transformation of countless people’s lives causing personal conversion and moral reform. It has given rise to countless vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and saved many vocations that were threatened during the upheavals that followed Vatican II. It has prompted many lay people to want to know more about their faith and attend bible studies or to do more formal theological studies. One of the changes brought about by Vatican II was a new understanding of what it meant to be Church. Instead of the two tier system that had existed before, whereby the professionals - priests and religious - were called to be holy and serve the Church, it was now understood to be the responsibility of all the people of God, and the CCR has helped create a people who were willing to take on this challenge. Charismatics are known for their ability to pray spontaneously and their beautiful worship songs, many of which have filtered into normal parish life, without people realising where they have come from. This has happened because of the lack of structure within the CCR generally, which has meant that once people have been baptised in the Holy Spirit, they have tended to return to the parish situation and serve there. This was shown very clearly in a recent survey undertaken by the English NSC in 2005, when they asked people in CCR about their spiritual and church life. From the 1000 questionnaires that were returned it emerged that 20% of people were involved in pro-life and justice and peace work, 50% were eucharistic ministers, 50% were church readers, 25% were catechists, 20% were on the parish council, 25% were engaged in ecumenism. All in all proof that those who have had their faith awakened through the CCR are among the most committed in the Catholic Church. In the UK too, many of the diocesan teams evangelising young people, as well as paid lay youth chaplains and lay youth workers in parishes, often come from a charismatic background too. This is also true for those now in the diaconate. The same survey also revealed 40 chaplains, 38 spiritual directors, 18 pastoral assistants and 21 deacons who all felt they owed their vocations to the CCR. “Impact of CCR in Brazil and India” In countries like Brazil, where the hierarchy has really backed the CCR, the effect on the Church has been phenomenal. Today it is reckoned that 12million people have been baptised in the Holy Spirit there and there are 20,000 prayer groups. National gatherings in Brazil can attract up to 350,000 people and Charismatic Covenant Communities like Cancao Nova and Shalom run evangelistic radio and tv stations, as well as huge conferences and evangelistic and mercy programmes. It is generally recognised that in Latin America the CCR has stemmed the haemorrhaging of Catholics to other denominations which had been happening since the 60s. Likewise in India CCR saw the birth of ministries such as the Divine Retreat Centre at Potta, where thousands of people attend each week on retreat and are converted and healed. As a result some are prompted to start new mercy ministries to tackle the different social problems in the country. Potta itself looks after unwanted old and sick people, AIDS victims, the blind and handicapped who have gathered there and become part of the ministry looking after the visiting pilgrims. The renewed understanding of the power of prayer from this ministry has affected the whole Church in India. It has led to a huge increase in 24 hour intercessory prayer towers at other retreat centres and even in parishes. This in turn has led to a huge increase in Mass attendance among young people in Catholic states such as Kerala. Here CCR has given rise to youth movements such as Jesus Youth, which evangelise and disciple their contemporaries very effectively, and which have spread all over the world. In the last few years, a huge rise in immigration, particularly to the London area, has brought many young Catholics from these countries, to this country. Some have already been involved in CCR in their own lands and others because of the social difficulties they face on coming here have become open to the Lord in a new way here. This has led to the establishment of many prayer groups and communities from overseas with their own language and culture and music but with a definite charismatic dimension. A challenge for both the Church and the CCR in the UK and Ireland will be how to build relations with these groups, both to support and help them, and to also benefit from the zeal for their faith they bring. It is good to remember after all, particularly as the leadership of the CCR gets older, that its original bearers 40 years ago were young people in their 20s. “Charismatic dimension of the Church co-essential to hierarchical dimension” A sign as to how much the CCR has influenced the attitude of the Church in regard to the charisms can be seen in Pope John Paul II’s Pentecost 1998 address. Here he publicly acknowledged the importance of the “charismatic dimension” in the Church which he said had tended to be forgotten and which, he affirmed, was “co-essential” to its “hierarchical dimension”. He went on to urge the whole Church to open itself docilely to the gifts the Holy Spirit was wishing to bestow on it. In the UK CCR people have been in the forefront of organising Catholic Charismatic Family conferences which offer spiritual input for children as well as adults. These family conferences began to emerge in the late 80’s and early 90’s as a response to those in CCR, who had been converted while young, and who now had families but who wanted to continue their spiritual formation. Events like “Celebrate” at Ilfracombe and “New Dawn” at Walsingham attract between 1500 and 3000 people each year. These are not just those who “belong” to CCR but many who want to know more about their Catholic faith. These family conferences are often a life changing experiences where people are “baptised in the spirit” without being aware that what they are experiencing is charismatic renewal.
As I explained earlier CCR has always had two aspects – a more structural side, which is formally identified and recognised as Charismatic Renewal, and a more general move of the Spirit. At the heart of both is the Baptism in the Spirit which CCR believes is for everyone however they may chose to express it. This makes it difficult to quantify exactly how many people there are involved in CCR, because it depends how you define what CCR is. Missionologist David Barrett, however, claims that 120 million people have been touched by the CCR world wide over the past 40 years. As time has gone on some of the structures in some countries that were initially used as vehicles to spread the Baptism of the Holy Spirit have gone into decline, for example prayer groups, particularly in the West. In some countries too some of the established covenant communities, which were initially very influential, have experienced difficulties and have ended or been drastically cut in size. The important thing, however, is that through all these means people have been renewed in their faith. And ultimately it is these renewed individuals that count, not the structures or vehicles that have renewed them, as these will always be finite and the Spirit will always have new surprises for us. “Life in the Spirit seminars used by other movements and communities” In the UK for example, in more recent years a new phenomenon has emerged. Several established movements and communities, such as Cursillo, Youth2000 etc have asked individuals they know in the CCR to run the Life in the Spirit Seminars for them, so they might receive a new understanding and empowering of the Holy Spirit. These movements or communities, however, would not consider themselves part of charismatic renewal in the classic sense, but they have begun to recognise the baptism in the Spirit as an important element in the spiritual journey. Many of these would now use the charisms in their personal lives and simply integrate them into their own spirituality. This would also be true of many younger people now working in diocesan structures, who see baptism in the spirit and using the charisms as part of normal Catholicism, without needing to belong to any particular movement.
In conclusion I would say that CCR is essentially about transformed people rather than a growing and powerful movement. The problems that one can see - divisions, dying of the charisms, diminishing fervour and commitment, groups or individuals going off track, are human failings which have happened since the beginning of the Church. The CCR has helped to make contemporary the book of Acts and the Letters of St Paul in a Church that had become institutionalised and legalistic. And the call remains to each one of us to continually keep open to the Holy Spirit and what He might be calling us to do in the new situations we find ourselves in so we can best serve him and our fellow men and women.
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This
year, 2007, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Duquesne weekend,
which is generally recognised as the beginning of what became known
as the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Looking back, what has its contribution
been to the Catholic Church and what is the way forward? These can be
hard questions to answer as Catholic Charismatic Renewal is a little
different from the other lay movements in the Church in that it has
no special founder or formal membership or all encompassing structure
that has or is directing its development. Cardinal Suenens, one of the
moderators of the Vatican II Council and an early champion of the CCR
called it “a move of the Spirit” and simply normal Christianity.
As the 20th century progressed the hierarchy had become concerned about
the phenomenon in the Church of “baptised pagans”, those who
had been baptised but showed no evidence of a living relationship with
Christ. Suenens saw the CCR as a response of the Holy Spirit to this.
He felt the purpose of CCR was to so permeate the RC Church with the
Spirit of Pentecost, that the need for it as a separate movement would
disappear, much as had happened with the liturgical movements and the
biblical movements earlier in the century. 
