On June 1, Pope Francis broke more new ground by becoming the first pontiff to attend a meeting of 500,000 Catholic charismatics in Rome’s Olympic Stadium. The movement, which traces its roots to Pittsburgh, Pa., in the late 1960s, focuses on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the emotional and spiritual power that comes through direct encounter. Though a sizeable group of believers see the movement as participating in what they describe as a New Pentecost, the singing, crying, speaking in tongues, “cascading waterfalls of inner illumination,” and other effusive experiences of charismatics still remain foreign to many Catholics.
The term itself is taken from Paul’s writings in the New Testament, where he describes the church as exhibiting a variety of gifts (“charisms”) in the one Spirit for the common good (1 Cor 12).
Pope Francis has not always been so supportive of the movement. His comments opened with an admission which can be translated as follows:
“As you perhaps know – because news spreads – in the first years of the charismatic renewal, I did not like charismatics very much. And I said of them: They seem like a school of samba [the Brazilian dance and musical genre which can be traced to the indigenous religious ceremonies of African slaves]. I did not share their way of praying and the many new things that were happening in the church.”
However, Francis eventually became so convinced of the good charismatics were bringing to the church that he became a spiritual assistant and chaplain to the movement in Argentina.
Reminding many of the first moments of his pontificate, Francis knelt directly on the stage while the crowds prayed over him with extended hands, many shouting exclamations in untranslatable tongues.
Citing Cardinal Leo Suenens, the Belgian theologian that Francis described as a “great protagonist of the Second Vatican Council,” Francis implored the audience to seek an authentic relationship with Christ and the Spirit marked by adoration, evangelization, and spiritual ecumenism. He called them a “current of grace” within the church.
The pope warned of “caging” or becoming a “customs office” to the Holy Spirit: trying to tame, orchestrate, control, or limit the goods and gifts which an authentic experience of God can provide us. Rather, he encouraged a direct and loving encounter with the divine, which offers true freedom to those who accept and receive it. It is the authentic freedom which allows us to grow and serve others and forgive wrongs and overcome seemingly insuperable suffering and heartache with grace. It is the freedom to embody with integrity and authenticity what he has so often called “the joy of the Gospel.”
As the church was born “in going forth” from that first Pentecost, Francis exhorted the crowds to travel beyond their immediate horizons and to “be close to the poor and touch in their flesh the wounded flesh of Christ.” He closed by inviting all of the charismatics of the world to St. Peter’s in 2017, the 50th anniversary of the movement’s inauguration.
Michael M. Canaris, Ph.D., of Collingswood, is a Research Associate at Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies in Northeast England.
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