From next June 9, CHARIS will come into force. It is a Vatican organization that includes all the groups of Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
In this way it establishes a clear channel of communication with around the 120 million Catholics who belong to the hundreds of groups of charismatic spirituality that are very similar to one another. In the past this made it difficult for the Holy See to communicate with them.
The preacher of the Pontifical House, Raniero Cantalamessa, will be the Vatican's assistant to this new organization. He says this movement has helped Catholics stay in the Church and not move to other Christian confessions in many countries of America.
FR. RANIERO CANTALAMESSA
Ecclesiastical Assistant of CHARIS
“When people came into contact with this reality they converted and it change their lives. It changed their marriages, their way of placing themselves at the service of the Church.”
Jean-Luc Moens will be the face for CHARIS. He will moderate the dialogue between the different Charismatic Renewal groups and with the Holy See. He says their mission is to help rediscover the power of the Holy Spirit. On Saturday morning they will be received by the pope and in the afternoon they will attend a Mass at St. Peter's.
JEAN-LUC MOENS
Moderator of CHARIS
“We have the joy of being received by the pope next Saturday and will listen to what he wants of us. We want to serve the Church. We want to do it humbly. The Charismatic Renewal does not own the Holy Spirit. It is a way of life in the Holy Spirit.”
More than 500 leaders of Catholic Charismatic Renewal are gathered in Rome in the Paul VI Audience Hall to prepare this new step in the beginning of CHARIS.
The catholic branch of this religious movement was born in the United States in the late 1960s. It originally only use to exist in Protestant circles. Rome trusts in the great capacity for these groups in the Catholic Church to promote ecumenism.
