Born Irish, in a family of eight, my early childhood was fulfilled and happy. My father was a colonel in the Irish Army until he retired when I was about nine. As a family, we loved to play, sing, and act, all within a military camp in Dublin.

We were a typical Irish Roman Catholic family. My father sometimes knelt down to pray at his bedside in a solemn manner. My mother would talk to Jesus while sewing, washing dishes, or even smoking a cigarette. Most evenings we would kneel in the living room to say the Rosary together. No one ever missed Mass on Sundays unless he was seriously ill. By the time I was about five or six years of age, Jesus Christ was a very real person to me, but so also were Mary and the saints. I can identify easily with others in traditional Catholic nations in Europe and with Hispanics and Filipinos who put Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and other saints all in one boiling pot of faith.

The catechism was drilled into me at the Jesuit School of Belvedere, where I had all my elementary and secondary education. Like every boy who studies under the Jesuits, I could recite before the age of ten five reasons why God existed and why the Pope was head of the only true Church. Getting souls out of Purgatory was a serious matter. The often quoted words, "It is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sins," were memorized even though we did not know what these words meant. We were told that the Pope as head of the Church was the most important man on earth. What he said was law, and the Jesuits were his right-hand men. Even though the Mass was in Latin, I tried to attend daily because I was intrigued by the deep sense of mystery which surrounded it. We were told it was the most important way to please God. Praying to saints was encouraged, and we had patron saints for most aspects of life. I did not make a practise of that, with one exception: St. Anthony, the patron of lost objects, since I seemed to lose so many things.

When I was fourteen years old, I sensed a call to be a missionary. This call, however, did not affect the way in which I conducted my life at that time. Age sixteen to eighteen were the most fulfilled and enjoyable years a youth could have. During this time, I did quite well both academically and athletically.

I often had to drive my mother to the hospital for treatments. While waiting for her, I found quoted in a book these verses from Mark 10:29-30, "And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." Not having any idea of the true salvation message, I decided that I truly did have a call to be a missionary.

Trying To Earn Salvation I left my family and friends in 1956 to join the Dominican Order. I spent eight years studying what it is to be a monk, the traditions of the Church, philosophy, the theology of Thomas Aquinas, and some of the Bible from a Catholic standpoint. Whatever personal faith I had was institutionalized and ritualized in the Dominican religious system. Obedience to the law, both Church and Dominican, was put before me as the means of sanctification. I often spoke to Ambrose Duffy, our Master of Students, about the law being the means of becoming holy. In addition to becoming "holy," I wanted also to be sure of eternal salvation. I memorized part of the teaching of Pope Pius XII in which he said, "...the salvation of many depends on the prayers and sacrifices of the mystical body of Christ offered for this intention." This idea of gaining salvation through suffering and prayer is also the basic message of Fatima and Lourdes, and I sought to win my own salvation as well as the salvation of others by such suffering and prayer.

In the Dominican monastery in Tallaght, Dublin, I performed many difficult feats to win souls, such as taking cold showers in the middle of winter and beating my back with a small steel chain. The Master of Students knew what I was doing, his own austere life being part of the inspiration that I had received from the Pope's words. With rigor and determination, I studied, prayed, did penance, tried to keep the Ten Commandments and the multitude of Dominican rules and traditions.

Then in 1963 at the age of twenty-five I was ordained a Roman Catholic priest and went on to finish my course of studies of Thomas Aquinas at The Angelicum University in Rome. But there I had difficulty with both the outward pomp and the inner emptiness. Over the years I had formed, from pictures and books, pictures in my mind of the Holy See and the Holy City. Could this be the same city? At the Angelicum University I was also shocked that hundreds of others who poured into our morning classes seemed quite disinterested in theology. I noticed Time and Newsweek magazines being read during classes. Those who were interested in what was being taught seemed only to be looking for either degrees or positions within the Catholic Church in their homelands.

One day I went for a walk in the Colosseum so that my feet might tread the ground where the blood of so many Christians had been poured out. I walked to the arena in the Forum. I tried to picture in my mind those men and women who knew Christ so well that they were joyfully willing to be burned at the stake or devoured alive by beasts because of His overpowering love. The joy of this experience was marred, however, for as I went back in the bus I was insulted by jeering youths shouting words meaning "scum or garbage." I sensed their motivation for such insults was not because I stood for Christ as the early Christians did but because they saw in me the Roman Catholic system. Quickly, I put this contrast out of my mind, yet what I had been taught about the present glories of Rome now seemed very irrelevant and empty.

One night soon after that, I prayed for two hours in front of the main altar in the church of San Clemente. Remembering my earlier youthful call to be a missionary and the hundredfold promise of Mark 10:29-30, I decided not to take the theological degree that had been my ambition since beginning study of the theology of Thomas Aquinas. This was a major decision, but after long prayer I was sure I had decided correctly.

The priest who was to direct my thesis did not want to accept my decision. In order to make the degree easier, he offered me a thesis written several years earlier. He said I could useit as my own if only I would do the oral defense. This turned my stomach. It was similar to what I had seen a few weeks earlier in a city park: elegant prostitutes parading themselves in their black leather boots. What he was offering was equally sinful. I held to my decision, finishing at the University at the ordinary academic level, without the degree.

On returning from Rome, I received official word that I had been assigned to do a three year course at Cork University. I prayed earnestly about my missionary call. To my surprise, I received orders in late August 1964 to go to Trinidad, West Indies, as a missionary.

On October 1, 1964, I arrived in Trinidad, and for seven years I was a successful priest, in Roman Catholic terms, doing all my duties and getting many people to come to Mass. By 1972 I had become quite involved in the Catholic Charismatic Movement. Then, at a prayer meeting on March 16th of that year, I thanked the Lord that I was such a good priest and requested that if it were His will, He humble me that I might be even better. Later that same evening I had a freak accident, splitting the back of my head and hurting my spine in many places. Without thus coming close to death, I doubt that I would ever have gotten out of my self- satisfied state. Rote, set prayer showed its emptiness as I cried out to God in my pain.

In the suffering that I went through in the weeks after the accident, I began to find some comfort in direct personal prayer. I stopped saying the Breviary (the Roman Catholic Church's official prayer for clergy) and the Rosary and began to pray using parts of the Bible itself. This was a very slow process. I did not know my way through the Bible and the little I had learned over the years had taught me more to distrust it rather than to trust it. My training in philosophy and in the theology of Thomas Aquinas left me helpless, so that coming into the Bible now to find the Lord was like going into a huge dark woods without a map.

When assigned to a new parish later that year, I found that I was to work side-by-side with a Dominican priest who had been a brother to me over the years. For more than two years we were to work together, fully seeking God as best we knew in the parish of Pointe-a-Pierre. We read, studied, prayed, and put into practise what we had been taught in Church teaching. We built up communities in Gasparillo, Claxton Bay, and Marabella, just to mention the main villages. In a Catholic religious sense we were very successful. Many people attended Mass. The Catechism was taught in many schools, including government schools. I continued my personal search into the Bible, but it did not much affect the work we were doing; rather it showed me how little I really knew about the Lord and His Word. It was at this time that Philippians 3:10 became the cry of my heart, "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection...."

About this time the Catholic Charismatic movement was growing, and we introduced it into most of our villages. Because of this movement, some Canadian Christians came to Trinidad to share with us. I learned much from their messages, especially about praying for healing. The whole impact of what they said was very experience-oriented but was truly a blessing, insofar, as it got me deeply into the Bible as an authority source. I began to compare scripture with scripture and even to quote chapter and verse! One of the texts the Canadians used was Isaiah 53:5, "...and with his stripes we are healed." Yet in studying Isaiah 53, I discovered that the Bible deals with the problem of sin by means of substitution. Christ died in my place. It was wrong for me to try to expidite or try to cooperate in paying the price of my sin.

"If by grace, it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace.." Romans 11:6. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).

One particular sin of mine was getting annoyed with people, sometimes even angry. Although I asked forgiveness for my sins, I still did not realize that I was a sinner by the nature which we all inherit from Adam. The scriptural truth is, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10), and "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). The Catholic Church, however, had taught me that the depravity of man, which is called "original sin," had been washed away by my infant baptism. I still held this belief in my head, but in my heart I knew that my depraved nature had not yet been conquered by Christ.

"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection..." (Philippians 3:10) continued to be the cry of my heart. I knew that it could be only through His power that I could live the Christian life. I posted this text on the dashboard of my car and in other places. It became the plea that motivated me, and the Lord who is Faithful began to answer.

First, I discovered that God's Word in the Bible is absolute and without error. I had been taught that the Word is relative and that its truthfulness in many areas was to be questioned. Now I began to understand that the Bible could, in fact, be trusted. With the aid of Strong's Concordance, I began to study the Bible to see what it says about itself. I discovered that the Bible teaches clearly that it is from God and is absolute in what it says. It is true in its history, in the promises God has made, in its prophecies, in the moral commands it gives, and in how to live the Christian life. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (II Timothy 3:16-17).

This discovery was made while visiting in Vancouver, B.C., and in Seattle. When I was asked to talk to the prayer group in St. Stephen's Catholic Church, I took as my subject the absolute authority of God's Word. It was the first time that I had understood such a truth or talked about it. I returned to Vancouver, B.C. and in a large parish Church, before about 400 people, I preached the same message. Bible in hand, I proclaimed that "the absolute and final authority in all matters of faith and morals is the Bible, God's own Word."

Three days later, the archbishop of Vancouver, B.C., James Carney, called me to his office. I was then officially silenced and forbidden to preach in his archdiocese. I was told that my punishment would have been more severe, were it not for the letter of recommendation I had received from my own archbishop, Anthony Pantin. Soon afterwards I returned to Trinidad.

While I was still parish priest of Point-a-Pierre, Ambrose Duffy, the man who had so strictly taught me while he was Student Master, was asked to assist me. The tide had turned. After some initial difficulties, we became close friends. I shared with him what I was discovering. He listened and commented with great interest and wanted to find out what was motivating me. I saw in him a channel to my Dominican brothers and even to those in the Archbishop's house.

When he died suddenly of a heart attack, I was stricken with grief. In my mind, I had seen Ambrose as the one who could make sense out of the Church-Bible dilemma with which I so struggled. I had hoped that he would have been able to explain to me and then to my Dominican brothers the truths with which I wrestled. I preached at his funeral and my despair was very deep.

I continued to pray Philippians 3:10, "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection...." But to learn more about Him, I had first to learn about myself as a sinner. I saw from the Bible (I Timothy 2:5) that the role I was playing as a priestly mediator -- exactly what the Catholic Church teaches but exactly opposite to what the Bible teaches -- was wrong. I really enjoyed being looked up to by the people and, in a certain sense, being idolized by them. I rationalized my sin by saying that after all, if this is what the biggest Church in the world teaches, who am I to question it? Still, I struggled with the conflict within. I began to see the worship of Mary, the saints, and the priests for the sin that it is. But while I was willing to renounce Mary and the saints as mediators, I could not renounce the priesthood, for in that I had invested my whole life.

Mary, the saints, and the priesthood were just a small part of the huge struggle with which I was working. Who was Lord of my life, Jesus Christ in His Word or the Roman Church? This ultimate question raged inside me especially during my last six years as parish priest of Sangre Grande (1979-1985). That the Catholic Church was supreme in all matters of faith and morals had been dyed into my brain since I was a child. It looked impossible ever to change.

Rome was not only supreme but always called "Holy Mother." How could I ever go against "Holy Mother," all the more so since I had an official part in dispensing her sacraments and keeping people faithful to her? In 1981, I actually rededicated myself to serving the Roman Catholic Church while attending a parish renewal seminar in New Orleans. Yet when I returned to Trinidad and again became involved in real life problems, I began to return to the authority of God's Word. Finally the tension became like a tug-of-war inside me. Sometimes I looked to the Roman Church as being absolute, sometimes to the authority of the Bible as being final. My stomach suffered much during those years; my emotions were being torn. I ought to have known the simple truth that one cannot serve two masters. My working position was to place the absolute authority of the Word of God under the supreme authority of the Roman Church.

This contradiction was symbolized in what I did with the four statues in the Sangre Grande Church. I removed and broke the statues of St. Francis and St. Martin because the second commandment of God's Law declares in Exodus 20:4, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...." But when some of the people objected to my removal of the statues of the Sacred Heart and of Mary, I left them standing because the higher authority, i.e., the Roman Catholic Church, said in its law Canon 1188: "The practise of displaying sacred images in the churches for the veneration of the faithful is to remain in force."

I did not see that what I was trying to do was to make God's Word subject to man's word. My Own Fault While I had learned earlier that God's Word is absolute, I still went through this agony of trying to maintain the Roman Catholic Church as holding more authority than God's Word, even in issues where the Church of Rome was saying the exact opposite to what was in the Bible.

How could this be? First of all, it was my own fault. If I had accepted the authority of the Bible as supreme, I would have been convicted by God's Word to give up my priestly role as mediator, but that was too precious to me. Second, no one ever questioned what I did as a priest.

Christians from overseas came to Mass, saw our sacred oils, holy water, medals, statues, vestments, rituals, and never said a word! The marvelous style, symbolism, music, and artistic taste of the Roman Church was all very captivating. Incense not only smells pungent, but to the mind it spells mystery.

One day, a woman challenged me (the only Christian ever to challenge me in all my 22 years as a priest), "You Roman Catholics have a form of godliness, but you deny its power." Those words bothered me for some time because the lights, banners, folk music, guitars, and drums were dear to me. Probably no priest on the whole island of Trinidad had as colorful robes, banners, and vestments as I had. Clearly I did not apply what was before my eyes.

In October 1985, God's grace was greater than the lie that I was trying to live. I went to Barbados to pray over the compromise that I was forcing myself to live. I felt truly trapped. The Word of God is absolute indeed. I ought to obey it alone; yet to the very same God I had vowed obedience to the supreme authority of the Catholic Church. In Barbados I read a book in which was explained the Biblical meaning of Church as "the fellowship of believers." In the New Testament there is no hint of a hierarchy; "Clergy" lording it over the "laity" is unknown. Rather, it is as the Lord Himself declared "...one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren" (Matthew 23:8).

Now to see and to understand the meaning of church as "fellowship" left me free to let go of the Roman Catholic Church as supreme authority and depend on Jesus Christ as Lord. It began to dawn on me that in Biblical terms, the Bishops I knew in the Catholic Church were not Biblical believers. They were for the most part pious men taken up with devotion to Mary and the Rosary and loyal to Rome, but not one had any idea of the finished work of salvation, that Christ's work is done, that salvation is personal and complete. They all preached penance for sin, human suffering, religious deeds, "the way of man" rather than the Gospel of grace. But by God's grace I saw that it was not through the Roman Church nor by any kind of works that one is saved, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

I left the Roman Catholic Church when I saw that life in Jesus Christ was not possible while remaining true to Roman Catholic doctrine. In leaving Trinidad in November 1985, I only reached neighboring Barbados. Staying with an elderly couple, I prayed to the Lord for a suit and necessary money to reach Canada, for I had only tropical clothing and a few hundred dollars to my name. Both prayers were answered without making my needs known to anyone except the Lord.

From a tropical temperature of 90 degrees, I landed in snow and ice in Canada. After one month in Vancouver, I came to the United States of America. I now trusted that He would take care of my many needs, since I was beginning life anew at 48 years of age, practically penniless, without an alien resident card, without a driver's license, without a recommendation of any kind, having only the Lord and His Word.

I spent six months with a Christian couple on a farm in Washington State. I explained to my hosts that I had left the Roman Catholic Church and that I had accepted Jesus Christ and His Word in the Bible as all-sufficient. I had done this, I said, "absolutely, finally, definitively, and resolutely." Yet far from being impressed by these four adverbs, they wanted to know if there was any bitterness or hurt inside me. In prayer and in great compassion, they ministered to me, for they themselves had made the transition and knew how easily one can become embittered. Four days after I arrived in their home, by God's grace I began to see in repentance the fruit of salvation. This meant being able not only to ask the Lord's pardon for my many years of compromising but also to accept His healing where I had been so deeply hurt. Finally, at age 48, on the authority of God's Word alone, by grace alone, I accepted Christ's substitutionary death on the Cross alone. To Him alone be the glory.

Having been refurbished both physically and spiritually by this Christian couple together with their family, I was provided a wife by the Lord, Lynn, born-again in faith, lovely in manner, intelligent in mind. Together we set out for Atlanta, Georgia, where we both got jobs.

In September 1988, we left Atlanta to go as missionaries to Asia. It was a year of deep fruitfulness in the Lord that once I would never have thought was possible. Men and women came to know the authority of the Bible and the power of Christ's death and resurrection. I was amazed at how easy it is for the Lord's grace to be effective when only the Bible is used to present Jesus Christ. This contrasted with the cobwebs of church tradition that had so clouded my 21 years in missionary garments in Trinidad, 21 years without the real message.

To explain the abundant life of which Jesus spoke and which I now enjoy, no better words could be used than those of Romans 8:1-2: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." It is not just that I have been freed from the Roman Catholic system, but that I have become a new creature in Christ. It is by the grace of God, and nothing but His grace, that I have gone from dead works into new life.

Back in 1972, when some Christians had taught me about the Lord healing our bodies, how much more helpful it would have been had they explained to me on what authority our sinful nature is made right with God. The Bible clearly shows that Jesus substituted for us on the cross. I cannot express it better than Isaiah 53:5: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (This means that Christ took on himself what I ought to suffer for my sins. Before the Father, I trust in Jesus as my substitute.)

That was written 750 years before the crucifixion of our Lord. A short time after the sacrifice of the cross, the Bible states in I Peter 2:24: "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."

Because we inherited our sin nature from Adam, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. How can we stand before a Holy God -- except in Christ -- and acknowledge that He died where we ought to have died? God gives us the faith to be born again, making it possible for us to acknowledge Christ as our substitute. It was Christ who paid the price for our sins: sinless, yet He was crucified. This is the true Gospel message. Is faith enough? Yes, born-again faith is enough. That faith, born of God, will result in good works including repentance: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

In repenting, we put aside, through God's strength, our former way of life and our former sins. It does not mean that we cannot sin again, but it does mean that our position before God has changed. We are called children of God, for so indeed we are. If we do sin, it is a relationship problem with the Father which can be resolved, not a problem of losing our position as a child of God in Christ, for this position is irrevocable. In Hebrews 10:10, the Bible says it so wonderfully: "...we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

The finished work of Christ Jesus on the Cross is sufficient and complete. As you trust solely in this finished work, a new life which is born of the Spirit will be yours -- you will be born again.

My present task: the good work that the Lord has prepared for me to do is as an evangelist situated in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S.A. What Paul said about his fellow Jews I say about my dearly loved Catholic brothers: my heart's desire and prayer to God for Catholics is that they may be saved. I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based in God's Word but in their church tradition. If you understand the devotion and agony that some of our brothers and sisters in the Philippines and South America have put into their religion, you may understand my heart's cry: "Lord, give us a compassion to understand the pain and torment of the search our brothers and sisters have made to please You. In understanding pain inside the Catholic hearts, we will have the desire to show them the Good News of Christ's finished work on the Cross."

My testimony shows how difficult it was for me as a Catholic to give up Church tradition, but when the Lord demands it in His Word, we must do it. The "form of godliness" that the Roman Catholic Church has makes it most difficult for a Catholic to see where the real problem lies. Everyone must determine by what authority we know truth. Rome claims that it is only by her own authority that truth is known. In her own words, Cannon 212, Section 1, "The Christian faithful, conscious of their own responsibility, are bound by Christian obedience to follow what the sacred pastors, as representatives of Christ, declare as teachers of the faith or determine as leaders of the Church." (Vatican Council II based, Code of Canon Law promulgated by Pope John-Paul II, 1983).

Yet according to the Bible, it is God's Word itself which is the authority by which truth is known. It was man-made traditions which caused the Reformers to demand "the Bible only, faith only, grace only, in Christ only, and to God only be the glory."

I share these truths with you now so that you can know God's way of salvation. Our basic fault as Catholics is that we believe that somehow we can of ourselves respond to the help God gives us to be right in His sight. This presupposition that many of us have carried for years is aptly defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) #2021, "Grace is the help God gives us to respond to our vocation of becoming his adopted sons...."

With that mindset, we were unknowingly holding to a teaching that the Bible continually condemns. Such a definition of grace is man's careful fabrication, for the Bible consistently declares that the believer's right standing with God is "without works" (Romans 4:6), "without the deeds of the Law" (Romans 3:28), "not of works" (Ephesians 2:9), "It is the gift of God," (Ephesians 2:8). To attempt to make the believer's response part of his salvation and to look upon grace as "a help" is to flatly deny Biblical truth,

"...if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace..." (Romans 11:6). The simple Biblical message is that "the gift of righteousness" in Christ Jesus is a gift, resting on His all-sufficient sacrifice on the cross, "For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:17).

So it is as Christ Jesus Himself said, He died in place of the believer, the One for many (Mark 10:45), His life a ransom for many. As He declared, ...this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28). This is also what Peter proclaimed, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God..." (I Peter 3:18).

Paul's preaching is summarized at the end of II Corinthians 5:21, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.." (II Cor. 5:21).

This fact, dear reader, is presented clearly to you in the Bible. Acceptance of it is now commanded by God, "...Repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15).

The most difficult repentance for us dyed-in-the-wool Catholics is changing our mind from thoughts of "meriting," "earning," "being good enough," simply to accepting with empty hands the gift of righteousness in Christ Jesus. To refuse to accept what God commands is the same sin as that of the religious Jews of Paul's time, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." (Romans 10:3)

A native of Ireland he returned there in 1996 on an evangelistic tour. He now lives in Portland Oregon U.S.A. He teaches a workshop at Multnomah Bible College on "Catholicism in the Light of Biblical Truth." His greatest joy is door-to-door witnessing . He has produced three series of radio broadcasts. A fourth series is about to begin in the Philippines on D.W.T.I. and D.V. R .O. radio stations. He is co-editor of this book and founder of the ministry named "Berean Beacon."

Are You Charismatic or Catholic?
http://www.catholicapologetics.info/modernproblems/currenterrors/Charism.htm
“For false Christ’s and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.” - Mark 13:22

By Raymond Taouk

The Origin of the present day Charismatic Movement can be traced back to the “holiness movement” which was began in the late 19th century in the united states by the Protestant preacher Charles fox Parham who began preaching (1901) to his topeka congregation that speaking in tongues was objective evidence of baptism in the spirit. After the Los Angeles mission of Parham’s apostolic faith sect became the center of a great revival (1906) the movement quickly spread around the world. Over the next two decades the movement split along doctrinal and racial lines. Today the Charismatics generally go by the name of “pentecostalist” although the term “Charismatic” is the more generally used since this sect doesn’t limits beliefs to is own denomination.

The Charismatic movement gained its influence into the post Conciliar Church with the efforts of various individuals such as Cardinal Suenens and Kevin Ranaghan who helped deceived a number of well meaning Catholics into thinking this would be a great way of being united with those outside the Church while learning to “experience the holy spirit”. The Catholic Promoters of this Pentecostal movement have been moved far from orthodox in their faith (2 Thess 2:14). That is why Archbishop Dwyer, of Portland, Oregon, in a scathing criticism of the charismatic movement, warned in 1974: “We regard it bluntly as one of the most dangerous trends in the Church in our time, closely allied in spirit with other disruptive and divisive movements threatening grave harm to unity and damager to countless souls.”

Charismatic Movement and False Ecumenism

Let us also be greatly aware that this Charismatic Movement in the Catholic Church is founded on a sin against the Faith. As Bishop Louis LaRavoire Morrow, S.T.D points out, “A Catholic sins against Faith by taking part in non-Catholic worship, because he thus professes belief in a religion he knows to be false.” This is because participation in Non Catholic worship has always been forbid (See Canon’s 1258,1063,2319,1325 of the 1917 code of Canon Law). Yet by the admission of Catholic Charismatic pioneer, Kevin Ranaghan, the movement began with Catholics performing the grotesque ritual of seeking a spiritual blood transfusion from the dead corpse of Protestantism, and proclaiming that God “filled them to overflowing with the spirit” for doing so. Such collaborating and “seeking the holiness of the Holy Spirit” from anathematized heretics cannot be a religious movement truly of God but rather diabolic Movement of deception. While no one claims that those who belong to this Movement are necessarily all evil or persons of ill intent, yet this is beside the point. Since the movement itself is founded on principles that contradict the Faith.

The false notion of Ecumenical worship as proclaimed by the Charismatic Movement was long ago condemned by Pope Pius XI and Pope Pius XII who (basing their teaching on the unchanging tradition of the Church rather than the progressive novelties of liberal theologians) warned against the dangers of interfaith activity. Pius XI in Mortalium Animos taught that though St. John recounted Our Lord’s prayer “that all may be one”, as well as Christ’s command “to love one another”, “nevertheless, he (St. John) strictly forbade any intercourse with those who professed a mutilated and corrupted form of Christ’s teaching. For ‘If any man come to you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into thy house, nor say to him, God speed you.”

Pope Pius XI further castigated interfaith projects, stating, “...It is clear that the Apostolic See can by no means take part in these assemblies, nor is it in any way lawful for Catholics to give such enterprises their encouragement or support. If they did so, they would be giving countenance to a false Christianity, quite alien to the one Church of Christ” (Moralium Animos, Jan 6, 1928).

The Charismatic movement being a product of such forbidden activities needed to acquire the mock-sacrament of a false religion (“baptism in the spirit”) for its impetus. Hence it acts in haughty disdain of Pius XI’s directives.

Speaking in Tongues?

Accompanying the so called “speaking in Tongues” the Charismatics will often be found screaming the name of “Jesus” or rolling on the floor, or making ecstatic utterances frequently unintelligible to listeners. In the history of the Church such behavior has always been condemned. In fact in Scripture it is only those who have been possessed by devils that can not restrain themselves from acting in such a manner. That is why most theologians agree that one of the signs of demonic possession is the speaking in strange or unintelligible tongues. I will quote a few as follows:

“According to the roman ritual, other signs of possession include ‘the ability to speak with some familiarity in a strange tongue or to understand it when spoken by another; the faculty of divulging future and hidden events; and the display of powers which are beyond the subject’s age and natural condition.’” (joseph ecanem, ph.d., demonic possession, p. 23)

“The catholic church still defines true signs of possession as displaying superhuman strength, often accompanied by fits and convulsions; changes in personality; having knowledge of the future or other secret information; and being able to understand and converse in languages not previously known to the victim, such as the phenomenon glossolalia. Early puritan ministers and later protestant clergy agreed on the same symptoms for declaring a person demonically possessed. In many incidences there was a complete ignorance of the person’s medical condition and behavior.” (Michael foreman, ph.d., a short history of diabolical possession, p. 59)

one of the signs of possession as listed in the rituale romanum is as follows: “to speak unknown languages (xenoglosia) and to sustain conversations in such languages, as well as to understand the languages that are spoken.” (Rituale romanum)

Further the Charismatics seem to have forgotten the words of St Paul regarding how a person should behave himself in the Church. St Paul tells us “ Thou know how thou should behave thyself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God the pillar and ground of the Truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). In fact when dealing with the issue of “speaking in tongues” he expressly states that “all things be done decently and according to order” (1 Cor 14:40), which is something that Charismatics totally ignore.

“The Holy Spirit”?

The Charismatic Movement often claim to magnifies the Holy Spirit, yet the scriptures tell us the role of the holy spirit is to magnify Christ, as we read “But when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will teach you all truth. For He shall not speak of himself he will speak only what he hears and he will tell you what is yet to come, He Shall Glorify ME; because He shall receive of mine, and Shall make it known to you” (John 16:13).

One of the characteristics of Charismatics is that it goes to excess on a detail, but loses the big picture of the Catholic and Apostolic Faith. It is this excess of sensual “experience of the Holy spirit” that is the problem, which some are trying to substitute for the Roman Catholic Faith.

The Charismatic approach to the Holy Ghost makes Him subservient to their emotions and personal conveniences, when on the contrary our faith teaches us that grace is a free gift given by God which He is not necessitated to give but only does so out of His free will (1 Corinth 4:7).

What is more is that they not only make God subservient to their emotions but also make their “experience” with the Holy Spirit into their new Magesterium, since who needs the Church if we all have a direct line with the Holy Spirit which we can activate according to our own likings! This is confirmed by the fact that the Charismatics will often refuse to admit that their “experience of the spirit” could be nothing more than a diabolic delusion or simply an intensification of ones own emotions. And so this Charismatic heresy is based on the erroneous notion that emotional experience always accompanies the conferral of grace, whereas the Catholic doctrine is that the only sensible indication of the conferral of grace is the sacramental sign itself.

The Catholic church has a marvelous two-thousand year history of “discernment of spirits” by which God has given us means (Spiritual tools) to use in order to discern the spirit of truth from that of error. Yet this Movement ignores Catholic teaching on the discernment of spirits. As we see often see Lay people lay hands on an individual, the individual gets a “rush”, and immediately proclaims that he is “full of the Spirit.” This is shocking presumption according to Catholic teaching.

The great mystical writer and Doctor of the Church, St. John of the Cross, warned that souls must flee from seeking such manifestations: “ I greatly fear what is happening in these times of ours: If any soul whatever after a bit of meditation has in its recollection one of these locutions, it will immediately baptize all as coming from God and with such a supposition say, ‘God told me,’ ‘God answered me.’ Yet this is not so, but, as we pointed out, these persons themselves are more often the origin of their locution.” (The Ascent of Mount Carmel. Book II Ch. 29)

It is this very spirituality which the Charismatic movement is based on which has long ago condemned by the Church and her great saints and theologians, precisely because it leads people to delude themselves.

St. Vincent Ferrer, who was well known for the thousands of miracles and conversions he work, nevertheless openly condemned this false form of spirituality when he stated that:

” The soul that attaches itself to these false consolations falls into very dangerous errors, for God justly permits the devil to have power to augment in it these kinds of spiritual tastes, to repeat them frequently, and to inspire it with sentiments that are false, dangerous, and full of illusions, but which the misguided soul imagines to be true. Alas! How many souls have been seduced by these deceitful consolations? The majority of raptures and ecstasies, or, to call them by their proper name, frenzies of these fore runners of Antichrist spring from this cause. Hence, the only consolation you should admit into your soul in time of prayer, is that which is produced by the consciousness of your nothingness and misery; a consciousness which will preserve you in humility, and inspire you with profound reverence and the desire that he may be honored and glorified. Consolations such as these cannot mislead. “ - Life of St. Vincent Ferrer, By Fr. Andrew Pradel, London 1875, Pg. 183

“Experience the Holy Spirit” - Go to Mass!

The principle work of the Holy Ghost is the sanctification of the soul (1 Thess 4:3) through grace and not some hyperactive movement of our emotions. This work of sanctification is accomplished by means of worthy reception of the sacraments. This is reason Christ instituted a Church, in order to impart to His members the life of grace through the sacraments.

For this reason the Church has always affirmed that a most powerful outpouring of Gods grace is given to us every time the Holy sacrifice of the Mass is offered. In his well known work “The Incredible Catholic Mass” (Tan Books) Fr. Martin Cochem, elaborates the 77 Graces and Fruits to be Derived from Devout Attendance at Holy Mass and concludes with the words “What dost thou now think of the holy Mass O Christian? Can it be supposed that in the whole world there is any other good work whereby so many graces and fruits are placed within our reach? If Christians only knew how to profit by holy Mass, they might acquire greater riches than are to be found in all the things God has created.”

The Mass being an official prayer of the Church, is non-other than the prayer of Christ Himself who continually offers Himself in intersection for us (Heb 7:25).

Catholic Devotions

Since the outpouring of the Holy Ghost is not limited to the sacraments alone, the Church has always recommend various other means by which God works the sanctification of her members, such as the various sacramentals, (i.e. Holy Water, Scapular), the various and private prayers, not to mention the other public prayers of the Church such as are found in the Roman Breviary. For this reason the Church encourages us to “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17).

What is more is that amongst these devotion are found those such as the devotion to the Sacred Heart, which has been practiced and recommended by a great number of Saints. What surer path is there to sanctity than drawing closer to the Heart of God!

Further more, the Rosary itself is another most ample means of drawing Gods grace and blessing up ourselves and those around us. St. Pope St. Pius X in expressing the mind of a number of Popes and saints on this issue states that “ There is nothing more excellent, it seems to us, than that numerous voices are uninterruptingly and from many parts of the world simultaneously lifting supplications to the Blessed Virgin Mary as they meditate on the Christian mysteries, so that the blessings of her maternal goodness may not cease to descend upon the Church.”

Hence what real pretension have Catholics to claim they have need to partake in works of the Charismatic sects in order to obtain the abundant outpouring of the Holy Ghost.

No Second Pentecost!

Contrary to what the Charismatics claim, their will never be a second Pentecost. The reason being that the first Pentecost was for the purpose of fulfilling Our Lords promise to send the Holy Ghost (John 15:26) and to confirm the divine Origin of the Church which had by the Coming of the Holy Ghost had been established once and for all, for the redemption of the mankind. For this reason St. Paul explicitly states that “For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid: which is Christ Jesus” (1 Cor 3:11). In other words the foundation of the Church which Christ has placed can not be re-founded or established. This is not only confirmed by the fact that the Church which Christ founded is indefectible (Matt 16:18-19) but also from the fact that all heretics who have every made the claim of a “second Pentecost” have always been condemned.

In this regard the charismatic movement is similar to that of many of the “spiritual” groups that have arisen in the history of the Church and which consequently merited by their strange beliefs and practices the condemnation of the Church. Chief among these were the Joachimites, followers of Joachim of Fiore in the 12th Century, who held the history of the world to be divided into three distinct phases, each corresponding to a person of the blessed trinity. Thus, the first age of the world was marked by God the Fathers majestic rule, the second by the wisdom of the son and his Church, and the third age (still to come) by the Holy Ghost in an outpouring of universal love. This teaching was condemned by Pope Alexander IV after Joachim’s death, in the 13th Century (Joachim of Flora, the Catholic Encyclopedia, Charles Herbermann, et al, eds, New york,1909).

Appeal to Scripture and History

Charismatics will often attempt to appeal not only to scripture but also the History of the Church to promote their efforts, yet if we look into both scripture and Church history we find that such efforts are clearly confounded.

We read in scripture that on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost descend upon the Apostles they spoke in tongues in such a way that while they were actually speaking in their own language they were understood by those present in their own native language (Acts 2:4 cf also, The Baltimore Catechism No. 3Q46 Pg.89).

What is more is that nowhere in Acts of the Apostles do we read that in order prepare themselves for the reception of the Holy Ghost, the apostle or disciples began to show forth hysterical signs or actions that where not in keeping with Christian modesty for as numerous spiritual authors have pointed out, God speaks to us in silence (3 Kings 19:12) and not by means of hyperactive motions. That is why we read that in the Acts of the Apostles that “All these (Apostles) were persevering with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus” (Acts 1:14). And so if we desire the abundance of Gods grace we also must unite ourselves in prayer “with Mary the mother of Jesus”, who is truly the Mediatrix of all graces.

Further when St. Paul deals with the issue of speaking in tongues in the fourteenth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians, he gives them some precise instructions, for example he firmly states that such person are to speak in such a manner that they are understood by the congregation for “If then I know not the power of the voice, I shall be to him to whom I speak a barbarian: and he that speaks a barbarian to me.” (1 Cor 14:11). This is because the soul purpose of speaking in tongues must be the edification of the Church and NOT the sensual gratification of the individual. For this reason, St. Paul goes on to say “ But in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may instruct others also: than ten thousand words in a tongue.”

What is more is that St. Paul is unhesitant to tells the Corinthians in this instruction (1 Cor 14:34) “Let women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted them to speak (in the Church)”. How many Charismatics observe such commands?

St. Paul stresses the fact that all Charisms are imperfect in comparison with Charity, which is far more superior, for this reason he tells the Corinthians “But be zealous of the better gifts. And I show unto you yet a more excellent way” (I Cor. XII :31). What is this better way? Well St. Paul goes on to explain in the thirtheen chapter to the Corinthians that this better way is Charity: “And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”

The Catholic faith is built on the supernatural virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity and not on Charisms which are only lower gifts. For this reason St. Macarius Magnus (4th Century) states “In comparison with Charity which is perfect, these gifts are of little consequence and those who are at that level can fall while those who have Charity do not fall. I tell you that I have seen men who have received all the Charisms and who have become participants in the Spirit and who nonetheless fell because they did not achieve perfect Charity”. (Spiritual Homilies, II, 27, 14)

Further the Charismatic idea of trying to revive the phenomenon of the early Church’s Charisma was an error the Montanist’s fell into in 170 A.D. These heretics were anathematized by the Church. This is because the “Charismata” of speaking tongues enabled the early Church to spread to the ends of the known world rapidly and become well established before the death of the apostles. That is why St. Paul in his second epistle to the Corinthians, explains the purpose of the gifts was simply to build up the Church and not for the sanctification of those whom the gifts were given.

The Catholic Church today now contains people of every nation. What need could there possibly be of the gift of tongues for evangelization? Sine the Catholic Church has a 2000-year record as the true religion, what further need has she to prove her claims. Wherefore St. Augustine (354-430) declares that , “ whereas even now the Holy Ghost is received yet no one speaks in tongues of all nations, because the Church already speaks in the languages of all nations. Since whoever is not in the Church, receives not the Holy Ghost” (Tract. XXXII, in Joan). Elsewhere he also affirms that “these [glossolalia] were miracles suited to the times.... Is it now expected that they upon whom hands are laid, should speak with tongues? Or when we imposed our hand upon these children, did each of you wait to see whether they would speak with tongues? and when he saw that they did not speak with tongues, were any of you so perverse of heart as to say “these have not received the Holy Ghost”? —St. Augustine, Ep. Joan., tr. vi.)

The apostle St Paul warns us against such false movements saying “ In those last days some shall depart from the faith giving heed to spirits of error and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:2). This movement is essentially a substitution of emotion for faith and good will for sound doctrine. It is a stepping stone to occultism. For this reason the Charismatic Movement bears a striking resemblance to the occultic New Age movement and several heresies condemned by the Church:

Below is an example of some of those heresies and the resemblance:

New age Movement. It is a pan-denominational movement with a non-Catholic principle as its unifying factors, in this case, “baptism in the spirit”. It offers a religion of EXPERIENCE. Charismatics never really provide a satisfactory theological explanation of “baptism of the spirit,” but emphasize that it is something that must be experienced. Yet the Scriptures Say you are complete in Christ, (COL 2:9).

* Messalianism, a heresy that originated in Mesopotamia in A.D. 360. The Messalians denied that the Sacraments give grace and declared that the only spiritual power is prayer leading to possession by the Holy Spirit. Such “possession” eventually led to immorality, from which they were also called “The Filthy.” Various bishops and councils of the Church condemned them.

* Montanism, a heresy that claimed the Holy Spirit superseded the revelation of Christ and was supplementing the revelation of Christ, such that they were acting under a “new outpouring of the Spirit.” This heresy takes the name of its founder, Monatanus, who began to be carried away by “inspiration”, by which would fall into a sudden seizure and start raving in his speech, speaking with a strange tongue. Pope St. Zephyrinus (199-217) denied them communion with the Church.

* Protestantism, a heresy that originated with Martin Luther in 1517. This heresy denies the existence of a visible hierarchical Church but holds to an invisible “spiritual Church of the predestined”, while also claiming that prophetic inspiration is given to each individual believer to understand the Word of God infallibly.

* Jansenism, a 16th Century heresy that tried to incorporate the errors of Protestantism into the Catholic faith. Like Protestantism it failed to make the distinction between nature and grace in such a way that they erroneously held that grace was due to nature, since it maintained with Protestantism that by original sin mans nature had been totally destroyed so that without grace it could not even do natural good. The Jansenists confused grace with the feeling of consolation while claiming that only those who are totally spiritual (i.e. the Jansenists) can be sure that they are predestined and this was assurance was to be seen in living a life away from the sacraments and abandoning oneself to “the grace of God”.

Some mostly tolerably balanced

ROMAN CATHOLIC SOURCES AND/OR CORDIALLY RELATED SOURCES

DISCUSSIONS

ETC. ON THE CHARISMATIC RENEWAL WITHIN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC SYSTEM, TOPIC:

http://www.catholiccharismatic.us/

Jesus Is Lord!

The Catholic Charismatic Center on the World Wide Web

Serving the members of the Charismatic Renewal in the Roman Catholic Church since October, 1995.

Welcome to the www.catholiccharismatic.us web site and message board (forum).

Many people who visit the www.catholiccharismatic.us web site see only five or six discussion topics listed on the right side of the screen.

If you haven't already done so, try clicking on the [Access Forum] link at the bottom of the list on the right. This will give you access to the complete forum database. There are over three hundred topics and about 1800 messages in the database. Some of the topics were started as long ago as 2003.About 90% of the topics pertain directly to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

You will need to be registered to reply to an old, or start a new, topic.

Please note that this forum is meant to serve as a resource for producers of CCR related newsletters.

The forum is not meant as a place to debate with, or denigrate, those in the CCR.

As a resource for the CCR on the Web, we are hoping for brief reports of God's signs and wonders, evidence of charismatic activities, testimonies, announcements of Catholic charismatic events, OP-ED articles about the CCR or about the baptism in the Holy Spirit, We also are looking for articles about scriptural and/or theological reflections on the work of Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit.

Thanks.

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&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

http://www.catholiccharismaticny.org/3rd_06_ignite.pdf

Fairly scholarly book on the topic with extensive excerpts. Appears to be written somewhat from the RC viewpoint.

http://www.ecampus.com/book/9780520204690

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Charismatic_Renewal

Catholic Charismatic Renewal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is a movement within the Catholic Church. Worship is characterized by vibrant Masses, as well as prayer meetings featuring prophecy, healing and "speaking in tongues." This movement is based on the belief that certain charismata (a Greek word for gifts), bestowed by the Holy Spirit, such as the abilities to speak in tongues and to heal (which Christians generally believe existed in the early Church as described in the Bible) should still be practiced today.

A dove, symbolizing the Holy Spirit, who is believed by Christians to confer various gifts.

A Catholic church in Ann Arbor, Michigan describes charismatic prayer:

"A charismatic style of prayer is common at Christ the King. People are free to raise their hands in prayer and during songs, many pray their own prayers audibly, some pray in tongues, etc.... They pray with expressive or charismatic prayer at monthly parish prayer meetings, at the beginning of parish meetings, and most especially during certain moments in the Holy Mass. These are some of the external markers of a charismatic parish. Internal markers include a radical surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all parts of life, a strong adherence to the Gospel and the teachings of the Catholic Church, and the pursuit of strong friendships centered on Christ."^[1]

[hide]

1 Origins
2 The Catholic Charismatic Renewal Today
3 Reaction from the Church hierarchy
4 See also
5 Notes
6 Further reading
7 External links

[edit] Origins

Pentecost by El Greco

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal as it exists today is the outgrowth from a retreat held in February 1967 of several faculty members and students from Duquesne University, a Catholic university in Pittsburgh operated by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (a Catholic religious order founded in France in 1703). Many of the students - though not all - claimed to have experienced a movement of God’s Spirit called being “baptized in the Holy Spirit.” The professors had previously been “baptized in the Spirit” a week or two before. Believers felt that "God’s action" was also prepared for in a very human way by the students’ prayerful preparation in reading the Acts of the Apostles and a book entitled The Cross and the Switchblade^[2]. What happened quickly spread to graduate students and professors at the University of Notre Dame and others serving in campus ministry in Lansing, Michigan. The movement was given a major endorsement by Léo Joseph Cardinal Suenens (1904–1996), a leading cardinal in the Catholic Church and one of four moderators of the Second Vatican Council.^[3]

[edit] The Catholic Charismatic Renewal Today

The Eucharist being elevated during a Catholic Charismatic Renewal Healing Service, in which the faithful not only pray for spiritual and physical healings, but also for miracles.

Praise and Worship during a CCR Healing Service.

As of 2003, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal exists in over 230 countries in the world, having touched over 119 million members ^[4]. Participants in the Renewal also cooperate with non-Catholic Christians and other Catholics in providing a common witness for evangelization, as encouraged by the Catholic Church.^[5]

The Charismatic element of the Church is still as evident today as it was in the early days of Christianity. Some Catholic Charismatic Communities do Healing services / Gospel Power Services / Outreaches / Evangelizations where the tangible presence of the Holy Spirit is felt, and healings and miracles take place ^[6]. The mission of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is to educate believers into the totality of the decleration of the gospels. This is done by a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; a one-to-one relationship with Jesus is seen as a possibility by the Chrismatic. He is encouraged to talk to Jesus directly and search for what The Lord is saying so that his life will be one with Him; this is what the Charismatic understands by giving his life to Jesus. Conscience is seen as an alternative voice of Jesus Christ.^[7] The charisms as identified in Saint Paul's writings, especially in Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12-14, and Ephesians 4:11-12, continue to exist and to build up the Church (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2003). The nine charismatic gifts considered extraordinary in character include: faith, expression of knowledge and wisdom, miracles, the gift of tongues and their interpretation, prophecy, discernment of spirits and healing (1 Corinthians 12:8-10; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2003).^[8] These gifts are related to the traditional seven gifts of the Holy Spirit described in Isaiah 11:1-2 (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord, as listed in Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1831). The nine charismatic gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 are also related to the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.^[9] Other references to charisms in the Catechism of the Catholic Church include Sections 688, 768, 799-801, 890, 951, 1508 (charism of healing), 2035.

The continuing fruitfulness of this current of grace is apparent in its very practical theological writings. Ralph Martin, a leading figure for decades in the Renewal in the United States, has provided an introduction to deep prayer in his popular book The Fulfillment of all Desire: A Guidebook for the Journey to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints. Fr. Michael Scanlan, another longtime leader of the Renewal and former President of Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, has authored an introduction to the discernment of spirits entitled What Does God Want?: A Practical Guide to Making Decisions.

[edit] Reaction from the Church hierarchy

Pope John Paul II

The initial reaction to the movement by the Church hierarchy was cautiously supportive. Some initially supported it as being a harbinger of ecumenism (greater unity of Gospel witness among the different Christian traditions). It was thought that these practices would draw the Catholic Church and Protestant communities closer together in a truly spiritual ecumenism. Today, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal enjoys the strong support of the hierarchy, from the Pope to bishops of dioceses around the world, as an officially recognized ecclesial movement.^[10]

Two popes have acknowledged the movement: Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. Pope John Paul II stated that the movement was integral to the renewal of the entire Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II (as well as then Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI) acknowledged good aspects of the movement while urging caution, pointing out members must maintain their link to the Catholic Church.^[11]

Pope John Paul II, in particular, made a number of statements on the movement. On November 30, 1990, The Pontifical Council for the Laity promulgated the decree which inaugurated the Catholic Fraternity of Covenant Communities and Fellowships. Brian Smith of Brisbane, elected President of the Executive of the Fraternity, called the declaration the most significant event in the history of the charismatic renewal since the 1975 Holy Year international conference and the acknowledgment it received from Pope Paul VI at that time, saying 'It is the first time that the Renewal has had formal, canonical recognition by the Vatican.' ^[12]

In March 1992, Pope John Paul II stated

At this moment in the Church's history, the Charismatic Renewal can play a significant role in promoting the much-needed defense of Christian life in societies where secularism and materialism have weakened many people's ability to respond to the Spirit and to discern God's loving call. Your contribution to the re-evangelization of society will be made in the first place by personal witness to the indwelling Spirit and by showing forth His presence through works of holiness and solidarity.^[13]

Moreover, during Pentecost 1998, the Pope recognized the essential nature of the charismatic dimension:

"The institutional and charismatic aspects are co-essential as it were to the Church’s constitution. They contribute, although differently, to the life, renewal and sanctification of God’s People. It is from this providential rediscovery of the Church’s charismatic dimension that, before and after the Council, a remarkable pattern of growth has been established for ecclesial movements and new communities."^[14]

The Papal Preacher, Rev. Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, has written on the topic numerous times since 1986.^[15]

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Jesus Is Lord!

Catholic Charismatic Renewal

Contents

[edit] Origins

[edit] The Catholic Charismatic Renewal Today

[edit] Reaction from the Church hierarchy