An article By Margaret McGettrick reproduced with the kind permission of the Faith Companion.
The letters CHARIS stand for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal International Service.
CHARIS is a new ecclesial body in the church. It was erected in 2019 by Pope Francis personally, as an instrument of reform which is capable of evangelising the culture. It is addressed to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal [henceforward referred to as CCR] but is meant as ‘a current of grace’ that will revitalise and become the norm for the whole church.
Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, in an address to the CCR, at the inauguration of CHARIS said: ’we have a duty to ourselves and to the Church to explain what this current of grace consist of and why it is intended and necessary for the whole Church. In brief, we need to explain who we are and what we offer- or better, what God offers-to the Church through this current of grace [Cantalamessa 2019]. This article addresses this need. It explores the context, the vision, the objectives, the structure and some thoughts on the implementation of CHARIS.
CHARIS and the Context of change.
The context that produced the vision of CHARIS was a cultural change in society and crisis in the church [Farrel 2019].
As Cardinal in Argentina Jorge Bergoglio, recognised that a change in the culture of society had occurred ‘that was making the transmission of the faith so hard’ [Ivereigh 2019:242].
Modern secularism had excluded God from the culture and scientism declared that truth was verified by science alone. The new post-modern era introduced relativism. Relativism does not accept the objective truth claims made by large organisations such as the church. Truth is relative and is verified by personal experience.
The church was in crisis. Research showed that Mass attendance and vocations had fallen. Church members had been ‘catechised’ but not ‘evangelised. They practised their faith nominally, but did not have the experience of a personal encounter with God to underpin it. Baptised Catholics were leaving the Church in large numbers. The number of disaffected ’none’s among the young especially, was increasing. The Church which exists to evangelise, no longer did so. It could not rely on its traditional mechanisms of faith transmission. New ways had to be found.
It was within this context, that in 2007 the then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio called a conference of Latin American bishops to be held at the national Argentina shrine of Aparacida. Its purpose was to reflect on the changes needed by the Church in order to evangelise in this new post-modern era. It concluded that indeed it was possible, but this would require ‘new forms’ and ‘new people’, terms that Bergoglio preferred to ‘reform’.
When Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio became Pope Francis, he included the findings of ‘Aparacida’ into his Apostolic Exhortation ‘Evangelii Gaudium’. Together, these two documents became his blueprint for change. The ‘new form’ is the structure of CHARIS and the ‘new people’ are its ‘renewed, missionary disciples’ capable of evangelising the culture.
These changes incorporated ‘experience’, and particularly the experience of ‘encounter’ as central. The Church of the future would be transformed by its members having a ’primary encounter with Christ’ [Ivereigh 2019].
To complete his vision, pope Francis has introduced into CHARIS the concepts of ‘pastoral conversion, a culture of encounter, a focus on the peripheries, missionary discipleship…building bonds of belonging across social divides…and…a shift in focus…out to the poor [Ivereigh 2019:226].
The importance of a Charismatic Spirituality for the future of the Church
Francis is a charismatic Pope. The ‘charismatic spirituality’ is important to him. He was a supporter of the Renewal as a cardinal in Argentina. People became part of the ‘current of grace’ called the Catholic Charismatic Renewal [CCR] because they had the experience of baptism in the Spirit and sought and to be faithful to it within the Church. They have been doing this for over 50 years [ICCRSDC2012:1].
The Renewal was a response to Pope John XXIII’s prayer for a New Pentecost for the Church that he made prior to the opening of Vatican II in 1962. His prayer was answered in 1967, when a group of catholic students from Duquesne University received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit during a retreat. They had a powerful experience of being loved by God. God renews us by His love and transforms us into ‘other Christs’. The Renewal spread rapidly to a 120 million Catholics world-wide. Today, the Southern Hemisphere Churches are growing rapidly and now represent the majority of Catholics. These Catholics are charismatic.
‘Renewal’ has been described as ‘God’s action to revitalize elements of the Church that have been neglected or forgotten’. The element of the Church that has been forgotten, is the baptism in the Holy Spirit and its associated charisms [Shreck 2017:14 & 15]. It is the Renewal that has brought this ‘forgotten grace’ to the attention of the Church. Recent research into the life of the early Christians, has clearly demonstrated that baptism in the Spirit and its associated charisms were expected to be received in baptism [McDonnell & Montague 1991]. As all Christians have been baptized, baptism in the spirit is now considered to be normative for all Christians. Pope Francis therefore wants baptism in the Spirit ‘to be pastored as a current of grace for the whole church’. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal has over 50 years of ‘bearing this grace to the Church’, and so is uniquely placed to help make the Pope’s vision a reality [Shreck 2017:9 & 89]. CHARIS has now been given this specific task.
What is the vision of CHARIS?
The Pope Francis’s vision for CHARIS is to renew the church to evangelise the culture.
What are the objectives of CHARIS?
There are six of them:
- To promote and serve the communion among the different realities of the Renewal
- To promote the grace of the ‘Baptism in the Holy Spirit.’
- To promote Christian unity.
- To reach out to the poor.
- To participate in the evangelising mission of the church
- To incorporate youth in its programmes
What is new about CHARIS is its incorporation of three specifically new dimensions of the church’s vision for the CCR’s future. These are: to spread the Baptism in the Holy Spirit to the whole church; to work towards the unity of all Christians by going back to its ecumenical roots; to serve the poor and needy. In pursuing these goals, CHARIS helps to revitalise the church and evangelise the culture.
The structure of CHARIS
As an ecclesial body, CHARIS has a structure and statutes. It has curial, international, national and diocesan structures.
Each structure CHARIS acts as a ‘service of communion’ to the different expressions of the Charismatic Renewal. Its objectives and new concepts are incorporated into its statutes.
Each structure incorporates the concept of ‘collegiality’, the requirement for ‘servant leadership’ and the requirement for a regular change of leadership.
In 2015, Pope Francis erected in the Curia, a new Dicastry for the Laity and Family Life. Its first ‘prefect’ is Cardinal Farrel. Its purpose is to promote in the laity ‘people who are formed well, animated by a clear and sincere faith and whose lives have been touched by a personal and renewing encounter with the love of Jesus Christ [Ivereigh 2019:97]. Pope Francis wanted to incorporate CHARIS officially, so that both the church and CHARIS would know that it belongs in the heart of the church.
To enable this development, the then organisational structures of the CCR, the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities [CFCCC] known as ‘the Fraternity’, and the ‘International Catholic Charismatic Services’ known as ICCR], graciously terminated their activities to make way for this new body.
The Dicastry for the Laity and Family Life appointed the CHARIS International Service, to co-ordinate activities at the international level. It is placed under the responsibility of a ‘moderator,’ assisted by an ‘ecclesial assistant’ and a council called the ‘International Service of Communion’. This is composed of 18 people drawn from different expressions of the charismatic renewal, from all over the world and to include one person under the age of thirty. The first Moderator is Jean-Luc Moens. The first Ecclesial Assistant is Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa.
At each level of CHARIS, members are at the ‘service of the communion’ of the various expressions of CCR, such as individuals, prayer groups, communities etc. Community is an important concept. It means unity in diversity. None has priority over the others and none can claim leadership of the Renewal. there will be no lifelong leaders in the church because of the temptation to believe they are indispensable.
The CHARIS National Service of Communion [henceforth described as the CNSC] is the principal co-ordinating organisation for CHARIS at the national level. It has now been formed in England. It is the responsibility of a Co-ordinator, and an assistant co-ordinator together with 15 members who meet four times a year. Currently, the members of CNSC are reflecting on three themes which they describe themselves on their website:
- Fire starters: how do we encourage and equip more people to experience Baptism in the Holy Spirit?
- Fanning the Flame: how do we help those who have experienced CCR to live out the fullness of their charismatic identity in a mature and holistic way?
- Spreading the fire? How do we serve the church and engage with wider society more effectively to help transform our world?
The CNSC has now invited each diocese to establish a CHARIS Diocesan Service of Communion [hence forward described as the CDSC]. Each has a coordinator, an assistant coordinator and a membership of no more than 15 people. Membership is drawn from all expressions of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal [CCR] in the diocese. In particular, it is asked to reflect a ‘breadth of ages’ and especially to encourage young people ‘to lead us forward in holiness and mission’. It should have at least one deacon or priest. Regulations for member’s terms of office are included in its statutes. The coordinator and assistant coordinator are held for 3 years with an option to renew consecutively for one more term. The CDSC is accountable to the local Bishop, with whom it seeks to work together in partnership and to whom the co-ordinator reports on activities once a year. The coordinator keeps the CNSC informed of its diocesan activities. Some of the key activities of the CDSC are: to support, promote and encourage all expressions of CCR within the diocese and to foster communion among them; to share the grace of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit: to be in relationship with the church as a whole and other Christian churches and communities working in unity for the building up of the church; and to promote concern for the poor. The CDSC is accountable to the Bishop, is in good standing with him and seeks to work in partnership with him. The statutes for CDSC’s require that the coordinator should meet with the bishop or his representative at least once a year to report on the CDSC’s activities. There should be at least one annual gathering to bring together all the expressions of CCR in the diocese. The CDSC’s full range of activities may be viewed in the document entitled: Guidance for Establishing a Diocesan Service of Communion [CDSC.]
To Promote and Serve the Different Realities of the Renewal.
CHARIS is called to be a unified ‘collegial body’ with a unified organisational structure.
Prior to CHARIS, the CCR had not been a single entity with a unified organisational structure ‘but rather a stream of movements and groups united by a common experience of Baptism in the Holy Spirit, including prayer groups, covenant communities, schools of evangelisation, healing ministries, some ecumenical and some solely Catholic’ They had never come together as one body’ [ICCRSDC 4.1].
CHARIS is to incorporate the concept of ‘communion’ and ‘collegiality’ with and between these different expressions of the Renewal, and to be of service to them all. By Communion is meant ‘unity in diversity’. A collegial body is one that comes together in such a way that ‘no one person dominates and everyone has the chance to speak [Ivereigh 2019:75].
To Promote the Grace of Baptism in the Spirit.
The Pope wants everyone to have the experience of being known and loved by God. The Holy Spirit is ‘the power of God’s love’ [Lombardi 2014:143]
‘Baptism in the Spirit is a life-transforming experience of the love of God the father poured into one’s heart by the Holy Spirit, received through surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ. It brings alive sacramental baptism and confirmation, deepens communion with God and fellow Christians, enkindles evangelistic fervour and equips a person with charisms for service and mission’. It is the ‘central grace at the heart of the Renewal. Through baptism in the Spirit the experience of the first Pentecost has been made present anew in our time’ [ICCRSDC n.1] we are known and loved by God [See Galatians 4:9 ‘Now you have come to know God’ and Romans 5:5 ‘the love of the father has been poured into our hearts the Holy Spirit who has been given to us]. Baptism in the Spirit is given to all Christians as an initial baptismal grace. For some, it is given by asking for it as an ‘awakening’ of their original baptismal grace received but not yet activated. For others it is received repeatedly as a ‘reawakening’ or ‘refreshing’ of the original grace.
The gifts of the spirit are referred to as ‘charisms’. With the gift of the Holy Spirit there is a release of them, particularly those Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. While these charisms have always been present in the church, in the charismatic renewal they have reappeared and been used extensively. These charisms are: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, and discernment of spirits, tongues and interpretation of tongues. They are given to the recipient for the up building of the church and for the common good.
It is important to distinguish the Corinthian gifts from the ‘Isaiah gifts’. They are: wisdom, understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord [Isaiah 11:2-3]. These are given in baptism with sanctifying grace, as permanent gifts given for our personal sanctification.
At Pentecost the Holy Spirit empowered the apostles for mission with His gifts. He does the same for us today. Each one of us has a unique mission and God gives us the gifts we need to accomplish it.
It is through the baptism in the Spirit that we are known and loved by God and gifted for ministry. Pope Francis wants everyone to have this experience and he has asked CHARIS to promote it to the whole Church.
To Reach out to the Poor
The church teaches that we are all called to serve everyone because Christ has united himself in some fashion to every person.
Pope Francis has asked that renewed Catholics go out from a ‘Samaritan’ Church to serve the poor and needy as a witness of love. He reminds us that: ‘in their flesh’ we will touch the wounds of Christ. We need to reach out to the periphery to find the poor who often remain hidden there. There we can meet them face to face, close and concrete. This is what Pope Francis calls ‘pastoral conversion’. In noticing the needs of the poor, we recognise the cause of their suffering, which compels us to take any required actions to alleviate it. This may involve taking action to promote social justice, or to campaign for change in the structures of society that promote injustice. In this way, the Church is able to evangelize the culture from within.
To Promote Christian Unity
Baptism in the Spirit gives people ‘a strong impetus towards ecumenism’. This impetus has always been present since early days of the Renewal because of the influx of the Pentecostal and Protestant churches who ‘had already received the grace’ [ICCRSDC 2012:2.11 & 92].].
Baptism in the Holy Spirit is an experience that unites Christians, because it is an experience each of them has personally encountered. The CCR has demonstrated already that it is possible to experience ‘unity in diversity’. In the early days of the Renewal many of the prayer groups and communities were ecumenical. Groups shared together in praise, worship, prayer and ministry. Because of this history, the Pope has identified CHARIS as an instrument of choice for the Church’s ecumenical effort. He wants CHARIS to return to is ecumenical roots for Christians to pray together and to reach out to the poor together.
To Participate in the Evangelising Mission of the Church
The church exists to evangelise. We are Christians because we have been loved and encountered by God in a life changing experience [Ivereigh 2019:339]. We evangelise to make possible that same ‘primary encounter’ for others. In doing so, we help them ‘to know God, to know they are loved and they can be transformed’ [Lombardi 2014:144].
The ‘new evangelisation’ directs our evangelising efforts toward three groups: those who have never heard the the gospel, those who have heard it but no longer affiliate themselves with it and those within the Church who who need to deepen their affiliation through a personal encounter with God .
Promoting baptism in the Spirit, together with our ecumenical efforts and our outreach to the poor, all serve evangelisation. In promoting baptism in the Spirit we testify to others from our own experience. In our ecumenical efforts we testify to others by the witness of our lives. In reaching out to the poor we act as conduits of God’s presence. The people we are ministering to recognise that presence and receive him in the encounter with our love. In this encounter, we too are evangelised as we meet and serve the suffering Jesus present there.
CHARIS, with its key goals, which if implemented, is capable of raising up the ‘new people’ described by Pope Francis who are capable of evangelising the culture.
To Incorporate Youth into its Programmes
Young people are a priority for CHARIS. CHARIS recognises the gifts that Renewed young people have and which the church needs. CHARIS therefore invites young people to be active participants in its communities and to help lead them forward in ‘holiness and mission’ [VN 2019.] They are important too as CHARIS plans for its future ‘when others must come to the fore’ [Farrel 2019].
Becoming Christian Disciples
The Renewal introduces people to a new way of life, ‘Life in the Spirit’. It ‘awakens’ in them a call to Christian Discipleship. God has a purpose for each of us and He empowers us with the gifts we need to fulfil it.
When we live the ‘life in the spirit’ and use our gifts, they begin to produce fruit in our lives. They make us like Christ. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self–control. There are some more benefits of this ‘current of grace’, which we have not yet considered, but which we need to be able to explain when promoting the baptism in the Spirit to the Church. Theses have been documented by the ICCRSDC:
- ‘Our worship is revitalised as we are filled with joy and offer praise to God often with uplifted hands
- ‘Scripture comes alive as a living word in which God speaks to us personally’ and we ‘thirst to study it’ more deeply [BIHS 2.3].’
- We have a new awareness of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit and are attentive to His promptings [BIHS 2.2].
- We experience a deeper love for the Church, a new closeness to Mary and a new appreciation for the teaching of the saints’ [BIHS2.5].
To promote Christian unity
Pope Francis calls this spiritual ‘ecumenism’. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is an experience that unites Christians because it has been experienced by them all. This grace has passed through all Christian denominations. In its early days, the CCR prayer groups were ecumenical sharing together in praise, worship, prayer and ministry together. Because of this the Pope has ‘identified the CCR as an instrument of choice for the Church’s ecumenical effort [Farrel 2019]. Pope Francis wants the CCR to return to is ecumenical roots, to pray together and reach out to the poor together.
Christian Discipleship.
Cardinal Cantalamessa has said that if CHARIS is going to promote the Baptism in the Holy Spirit to the whole Church, its benefits need to be clearly explained. There are some more which are worthy of note. ICCRSDC has produced a list:
- Our worship is revitalised as we are filled with joy and offer praise to God often with uplifted hands.
- Scripture comes alive as a living word in which God speaks to us personally’ and we ‘thirst to study it’ more deeply [BIHS 2.3].’
- We have a new awareness of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit and are attentive to His promptings [BIHS 2.2].
- We have a commitment to social justice. This solidarity with the poor led to action [Acts 4:33-34].
- We experience a deeper love for the church, a new closeness to Mary and a new appreciation for the teaching of the saints’ [BIHS 2.5].
The implementation of CHARIS
Implementing CHARIS will be challenging.
It will require the Church at all levels, the bishops, priests, the local parish and members of CHARIS to reflect on its vision and goals.
It will involve reviewing current structures and practices and considering how we can incorporate the CHARIS vision into them.
It will be necessary to establish some indicators for reviewing how we are meeting the challenge.
We will also need to reflect on what resources are needed and how to access them.
All those involved should be prepared to ‘undertake training, formation and to grow in their gifts of service’ [Boroden].
Richard Rohr in a recent video teaching, describes the maturing of the spiritual life as a pathway represented by six levels. The first three represent ‘religion’ as an ‘information’ gathering time. Biblical ‘faith’ starts at stage 4 when we have the ‘God experience’. It is the time we are connected to and start to live within the Trinitarian flow of love. It is a time of immense compassion. He describes ‘Baptism in the Holy Spirit’ as a ‘mini mystical’ stage 4 experience.’ Stage 4 is the beginning of adult spirituality. Rohr specifically mentions the CCR. He bemoans the fact that in the CCR, there is no one around to help with this growth and to give people the tools they need to develop further in the spiritual life. He recognises an important challenge therefore to CHARIS. Following baptism in the Spirit, how do we help Renewed Catholics to grow in the spiritual life towards spiritual union?
The clergy did not receive training in their seminary days into the nature and practice of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Some became actively involved. Others accepted its presence but kept it firmly on the periphery of parish life. Helping this group to understand the vision and goal of CHARIS will be very important for its successful implementation.
There will be resistance to change. There will be hidden resistance from ‘people who are outwardly supportive but inwardly determine that everything should stay as it is [Ivereigh 2919].
Conclusion
CHARIS is at the service of revitalising the whole church and evangelising the culture.
What a privilege it is for the CCR to have been chosen to help bring this vision to birth in the Church. We all have a part to play in making it happen. The Renewal is truly in and for the church and not peripheral to it as it once was. I leave the reader with the words of Pope St John Paul II: ‘Make the Holy Spirit known and loved. Help bring to life that ’’culture of Pentecost’’ that can alone make fruitful the civilisation of love…never tire of praying ’’Come Holy Spirit! Come! Come.
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