Posted on 07/17/2004 7:21:27 PM PDT by narses
FLUSHING TWP. - Dramatic healings and speaking in tongues may not be the typical picture of Catholicism, but the leader of a growing charismatic movement in the church says it has drawn high praise from Pope John Paul II.
The Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities sprang up among college students in Pennsylvania and Michigan in the 1970s and now has spread to an estimated 120 million worshipers worldwide, Matteo Calisi, its president, said here recently.
He spoke to about 50 people at New Zion Catholic Pastoral Center during a tour of charismatic communities in North and Latin America.
Although the group was founded by Roman Catholics, it now includes Protestants, Orthodox Christians and messianic Jews, Calisi said.
Calisi, a music professor at a state high school in Italy, said the pope has called the charismatic movement "the greatest spiritual renewal the church has ever seen."
"It doesn't have a precedent in history," said Calisi through an interpreter.
The movement started at Duquesne University in Pennsylvania and spread to Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. The grass-roots initiative reached Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Church in Montrose in 1980, when the Mount Zion community was established in the church.
Mount Zion split from Good Shepherd in 1985 and was designated a pastoral center by then-Bishop Kenneth Povish in 1988. It now has its own building in a rural setting at 8236 McKinley Road.
"It's amazing that, in such a small community as this, the movement can be as prominent as it is," said the Rev. Dennis Howard, chaplain of Mount Zion, which consists of 52 families with 10 others under a three-year inquiry program before becoming members.
The community is best known for its Youth to Youth evangelism program composed of high school and college students and young adults under the direction of Martha Krupp, one of Mount Zion's founders. It produces plays and conducts training sessions and weekend retreats for youths, families and parishes, ministering in 33 U.S. dioceses, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Italy and Iceland.
The movement has been termed "Baptism of the Holy Spirit," often accompanied by healings and ability to speak in tongues, an utterance of usually speechlike sounds called glossolalia.
Calisi said charismatics are especially popular in South America and Latin America, with as many as 20 million in Brazil alone.
The strength of the charismatic movement was demonstrated in 1998, when an estimated 500,000 overflowed St. Peter's Square in Rome for an address by John Paul. Krupp said the square can hold about 150,000 so the crowd spilled into adjacent streets.
In his talk, the pope said: "One of the most obvious manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the Church this century has been the founding of lay movements and communities committed to modeling their lives on that of the early Christian community and to spreading the gospel in schools, neighborhoods and workplaces."
Although the group was founded by Roman Catholics, it now includes Protestants, Orthodox Christians and messianic Jews, Calisi said. ....the pope has called the charismatic movement "the greatest spiritual renewal the church has ever seen."
The Charismatic Renewal is not everybody's cup of tea. But, it has endured, in the Catholic Church, for over 30 years. And, many many Catholics have grown closer to God because of it.
"But, it has endured, in the Catholic Church, for over 30 years."
Wow, a whole 30 years. How does an organization that includes many faiths call itself "Catholic"?
If it now includes Protestants, Orthodox Christians and messianic Jews and is Catholic, why is the SSPX NOT Catholic?
"Catholic" does mean "universal." There is absolutely nothing "anti-Catholic" about praying with those from other faiths.
I'm sure that a Charismatic Renewal prayer group would welcome an SSPX member.
I suspect that nobody from the SSPX would join such a group, however.
I suspect you're right. If universal now includes Orthodox and Jews, when does the UN take over?
Nobody is forced to join the Charismatic Renewal. But, many who do become a part of it, have benefited spiritually.
How so? What "benefits" does any heretic get spiritually from the charismatic movement?
Jews can't pray to God? Orthodox can't pray to God? Are their prayers simply wasted because they're not Catholic?
PRAISE THE LORD! HE CONTINUES
SPREADING HIS WORD, HIS SPIRIT, HIS POWER
HIS WAYS--across all kinds of lines and boundaries men have set up!
You tell me deacon, you're the one promoting this stuff as 'beneficial'.
SUMMARY: Experience trumps Theology.
John and Elizabeth Sherrill, Look Magazine authors wrote
THEY SPEAK WITH OTHER TONGUES decades ago. It is a classic of the rising of this movement.
I believe they chronicled it's appearance spontaneously across diverse congregations and denominations INCLUDING the Romans.
GOD started it and evidently in many places at once. St Luke's Episcopal in Seattle was another early fire base of the movement.
It is beneficial, for some. Not all. Traditional devotions are beneficial for some, not all. Perhaps we should judge each sprituality by its fruits.
There is nothing theologically compromising about the Charismatic Renewal. It is scripturally based; in fact, Scripture is at its core.
The essence of the ecumenical charismatic movement has historically been compromise.
"Perhaps we should judge each sprituality by its fruits."
That might not lead to a positive view of say, the NO Mass.
Explain again (as I missed the first time) the benefits heretics and non-Catholics get from this and how they can be included as members of a Catholic congregation. Please.
How? There is Scripture, there is prayer. There is very little theological discussion, and no fighting.
The Charismatic Renewal is the absolute antithesis of denominational Christianity.
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