" " "ERSITY OF í Cou«w\,v-VV-ejt̂ -iervs 'Pô SiVoxf ̂ OuuuEÄ^ C.Ú- Statement on CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL COMMITTEE FOR PASTORAL RESEARCH AND PRACTICES MAY r e t í 1 5 1 M 9 CQUJESe UBRARV National Conference of Catholic Bishops COMMITTEE FOR PASTORAL RESEARCH AND PRACTICES National Conference of Catholic Bishops STATEMENT ON CATHOLIC CHARISMATIC RENEWAL 1975 Publications Office UNITED STATES CATHOLIC CONFERENCE 1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 2G005 1 itteaskäSed Introduction « V In an effort to discharge their pastoral responsibility to guide the flock of Christ entrusted to their care, the bishops of the f United States asked the Committee on Pastoral Research and Practices to prepare a statement on the charismatic renewal. The present document is a response to that request. It is pastoral in tone and content. It is not an exhaustive treatment. It simply points up certain directions and enunciates certain prin- ciples. A more complete treatment of the matter may be desirable at some future time which would deal in greater depth with the charismatic renewal as it is developing in the United States. The full text of an address of Pope Paul VI on the subject added here in the form of an appendix gives valuable and additional insights into this timely topic. This statement, then, is offered by the Committee on Pastoral Research and Practices in the hope that it may be of service to bishops, priests, and lay people in their effort to "test everything and retain what is good" (I Thess. 5:21) and to fulfill the apostolic injunction to "Set your hearts on the greater gifts," above all on "the way which surpasses all others." (I Cor. 12:31-13:1) Bë?« I II 1 STATEMENT ON CHARISMATIC RENEWAL 1. The Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Church teaches that the Holy Spirit sanctifies and leads the Church not only through the sacraments and ministries, "but alloting his gifts to everyone according as he wills, he distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank. By these gifts he makes them fit and ready to undertake the various tasks and duties which contribute toward the renewal and building up of the Church, according to the words of the Apostle, 'The manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for profit.' (I Cor. 12:7) These charisms, whether they be the more outstanding or the more simple and widely diffused, are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation for they are especially suited to and useful for the needs of the Church. Extra- ordinary gifts are not to be rashly sought after nor are the fruits of apostolic labor to be presumptuously expected from their use. Judgment as to their genuineness and proper use belongs to those who hold authority in the Church and to whose special competence it belongs, not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to that which is good." (Lumen Gentium, N. 12) 2. It is clear, then, that these gifts or charisms have been given to the Church from the beginning and cannot be said to.belong only to our times. The Church is a living, growing reality precisely because of the continual and vital action of the Holy Spirit sent by the Father and the Son. 3. Because it is not self-evident which manifestations are truly from the Holy Spirit, it is necessary that the members of the Church in communion with their pastors be conscious of the possi- bility of self-deception and of the need to keep in mind the wise norms handed down in the written word of God and the perennial teaching of the Church. First of all, there is the saying of Our Lord Himself, "You will know them by their deeds" (Mt. 7:16). This does not mean that such gifts as tongues, miracles or prophe- cies, are the "deeds" or "fruits" by which the Spirit can be recognized. It is these very things which must be judged and discerned. Hence when our Lord speaks of the test of deeds as providing the sign of truth and authenticity he is speaking of con- formity with the full teaching of the Gospel and the following of His example. The Apostle Paul in the New Testament enlarges on this teaching of the Lord when he affirms that the fruit of the Spirit is, "love, joy, peace, patient endurance, kindness, faith, mildness and chastity." (Gal. 5:22). He also explains that the authentic gifts of the Spirit are always for the building up of the Church in unity and charity, "Make every effort to preserve the unity which has the Spirit as its origin and peace as its binding force." (Ephesians 4:3). He then adds, "Each of us has received God's favor in the measure in which Christ bestows it . . . It is he who gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers in roles of service for the faithful to build up the body of Christ." (Eph. 4:7, 11-12) He states the same thing with equal emphasis in writing to the Corinthians, "To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." (I Cor. 12:7) The greatest authenticating sign of the Spirit, however, is love. Not any kind of love but that kind of sacrificial, Christian love described in these words, "Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not jealous, it does not put on airs, it is not snobbish. Love is never rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not prone to anger; neither does it brood over injuries. Love does not rejoice in what is wrong but rejoices with the truth. There is no limit to love's forebearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure. Love never fails. Prophe- cies will cease, tongues will be silent, knowledge will pass away . . . There are in the end three things that last: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love." (I Cor. 13:4-8, 13) Lastly, we must mention one more authenticating sign of the Spirit found both in the Gospel and in the Apostolic letters of the New Testament: The Spirit always bears witness to Jesus. "The Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will instruct you in everything and remind you of all that I told you." (Jn. 14:26) "When he comes, however, being the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but will speak only what he hears . . . in doing this he will give glory to me, because he will have received from me what he will announce to you." (Jn. 16:13-14) 4. These norms given in the Word of God must be brought to bear in making judgment about the action of the Holy Spirit. In addition it is clear that the authentic action of the Holy Spirit can never be in conflict with the authentic teaching of the Church since it is one and the same Spirit who pours out the gifts in all the faithful and who guides and sustains the teaching authority of the Church. St. Augustine, in this connection, affirms that "We have the Holy Spirit to the extent that we love the Church." (Tract, in John XXXII, 8: CCL XXXVI, 304) It is also important to turn to the great saints and masters of the spiritual life whose own experience under the guidance of the Holy Spirit has bequeathed to the Church of every age a rich treasury of discernment and wisdom. Outstanding in these things are saints like Gregory the Great, Ignatius Loyola, Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross. 5. One of the great manifestations of the Spirit in our times has been the Second Vatican Council. Many believe also that the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Is another such manifestation of the Spirit. It does indeed offer many positive signs, clearer in some groups than in others. Where the movement is making solid progress there is a strongly grounded spirit of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. This in turn leads to a renewed interest in prayer, both private and group prayer. Many of those who belong to the move- ment experience a new sense of spiritual values, a heightened con- sciousness of the action of the Holy Spirit, the praise of God and a deepening personal commitment to Christ. Many, too, have grown in devotion to the Eucharist and partake more fruitfully in the sacramental life of the Church. Reverence for the Mother of the Lord takes on fresh meaning and many feel a deeper sense of and attachment to the Church. Things of this kind certainly merit en- couragement and do reflect the biblical and Church teaching mentioned above. 6. It is understandable that any new movement will face diffi- culties and involve a certain mixture of desirable and undesirable elements. A previous report from this Committee pointed out some dangers which continue to exist here and there, and which cannot be ignored, if the movement is to develop in a positive and fruitful way. Elitism and that kind of biblical fundamentalism which offend against the authenticating norms of Sacred Scripture and the teaching of the Church are two of these dangers. Elitism creates a closed circle and gives rise to divisions rather than unity and charity, and biblical fundamentalism does not do justice to the mission of the Holy Spirit to bear witness to "all Jesus has taught." There is also the danger for some who are involved in this move- ment to ignore the intellectual and doctrinal content of faith and reduce it to a felt religious experience. It is in the hope that the truly positive values of the charismatic renewal will prevail and that the movement may in fact contribute as all authentic action of the Holy Spirit does "to building up the Church" in unity and charity, that we feel it important to direct attention to these dangers and undesirable features which continue to appear in some groups. Other aspects of the charismatic renewal which call for caution are such things as healing, prophecy, praying in tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. It cannot be denied that such phe- nomena could be genuine manifestations of the Spirit. These things, however, must be carefully scrutinized and their im- portance, even if genuine, should not be exaggerated. 7. The charismatic renewal cannot live or be productive in isolation. It has to have a strong bond with the total life of the Church. This means that it is necessary to maintain involvement in the local parish community as a whole and to seek out and work under the guidance of the parish priests who as sharers in the pastoral ministry of the bishop have responsibility for coordinating the overall well-being of the parish. Priests and bishops, of course, have the correlative responsibility to develop means for relating the charismatic renewal to the whole Church. 8. In order to develop a climate of mutual understanding, trust and communication, personal contact by bishops and priests with both leaders and members of the various groups is essential. Once this relationship is established it can be effectively sustained by the appointment of diocesan liaison persons who can keep cur- rent with developments in the movement, offer sound guidance, and keep the Ordinaries informed. 9. The parishes should be encouraged to integrate the existing charismatic groups into their structures so that effective communi- cation is maintained. It would be helpful if the priests of the parish would have continuing communication with the leaders in their parish. Leaders should be open to the insights and suggestions of the parish priests and they, in turn, should try to encourage what is good and positive in the groups they come in contact with, as well as to point out what they believe to be undesirable or harmful either to individuals, or to the movement or to the parish itself. Effective guidance, then, will require the encouragement of positive goals and ideals while working out problem areas in frank con- sultation with leaders and members of the group. 10. Association with priestly leadership is clearly essential to the healthy development of the charismatic renewal. And so we strongly encourage priests to take an interest in the movement. Because of his unique role and the charism of sacred ordination, the priest can most effectively relate the work of the renewal to the total life of the Church and in this way fulfill- his own special function of coordinator of the gifts of the Spirit. Priests who have not personally shared in the movement itself should, of course, be cautious in making judgments or decisions and should make sure that they are fully informed and understand what is taking place. At the same time there is a healthy factor in openness on the part of the members of the movement to those who are not part of it since this offers an element of objectivity which is always valuable. 11. A key element in the future success of the charismatic movement is the formation of leaders who are well grounded in the teaching of the Church and in understanding of Scripture, leaders who are open to one another and mature enough to share responsi- bility. In many places the benefits derived from such leadership are already markedly visible. Regular participation of local leaders in regional and national meetings of the Catholic charismatic re- newal should prove helpful also. 12. An especially sensitive pastoral question concerns charis- matic groups which involve both Catholics and Christians of other traditions. Such groups merit special pastoral interest. Continual or exclusive participation in ecumenical groups runs the risk of diluting the sense of Catholic identity. On the other hand, occa- sional ecumenical sharing in prayer groups can be beneficial. Catholics who participate in such groups should be mature in their faith and committed to the principles of Catholic belief. They should be well informed of and careful to follow the Church's guide- lines for ecumenical activity. 13. Because the charismatic renewal is new to most Catholics, bishops and other pastors can offer much needed assistance when difficulties arise between the movement and other Church groups and institutions. The legitimate concerns of all should be ex- amined and reconciled through dialogue based on the spirit and teaching of the Gospel and the example of Christ. Pastors may also at times be helpful in assisting leaders of the movement to resolve conflicts within charismatic groups themselves. The peaceful de- velopment of the movement which we wish to encourage will be fostered if less mature persons are only permitted to involve themselves under the special direction of the more mature. This reflects the teaching and experience of St. Paul who counselled, "The spirit of the prophets are under their prophets' control, since God is a God, not of confusion but of peace." (I Cor. 14:32-33) 14. A more recent development in the renewal is the establish- ment of small communities in which members of the movement live together in order to deepen their life in the Spirit. The success of these communities depends on mature leadership, on careful fi- delity to the norms mentioned in the earlier part of this paper and on a strong link with the ecclesial community. Regular and objec- tive evaluation with outside help is very important. In his closing address to the World Synod of Bishops on October 26, 1974, the Holy Father encouraged the development of small communities but called for a sense of balance: "In addition we have noted with satis- faction the hope furnished by small communities and the reminder they give of the work of the Holy Spirit. But this hope would be truly stunted if their ecclesial life, in the organic unity of the single Body of Christ, were to cease or be exempted from legiti- mate ecclesiastical authority or be left to the arbitrary impulse of individuals." 15. To the members of the movement, then, to pastors and to all the faithful of Christ, we commend the words of Scripture which we take as our own guiding light: "Do not stifle the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test everything; retain what is good. Avoid any semblance of evil." (I Thess. 5:19-22) We encourage those who already belong and we support the positive and desirable directions of the charisfnatic renewal. ON PRIMARY NEEDS OF THE CHURCH Pope Paul VI Address October 16, 1974 If we persist in posing again the question which we have already raised several times, about the primary needs of the Church, we arrive at something extremely evident, which seems almost a tautology, as if we should say that a living being needs above all to live. Well, we dare to refer this paradoxical question to the Church to discover the essential principle that confers on her primary raison d'être, her deep and indispensable animation. And here we reach an answer, which gives us the key to this reality. The key is a mystery: the Church lives by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which we call grace, that is to say, a gift par excellence, charity, the Father's love, communicated to us by virtue of the redemption operated by Christ, in the Holy Spirit. Let us recall St. Augustine's synthesis: "what the soul is for the human body, the Holy Spirit is for the body of Christ, which is the Church" (Serm. 267; P.L. 38, 1231). A well-known truth. We have all heard it repeated and pro- claimed by the recent Council: "When the work which the Father had given the Son to do on earth (cf. Jn. 17:4) was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that He might forever sanctify the Church, and thus all believers would have access to the Father through Christ in the one Spirit (cf. Eph. 2:18). He is the spirit of life . . . The Spirit dwells in the Church and in the hearts of the faithful as in a temple (cf. 1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19). In them He prays and bears witness to the fact that they are adopted sons (cf. Gal. 4:6, Rom. 8:15-16 and 26). The Spirit guides the Church into the fullness of truth (cf. Jn. 16:13) and gives her a unity of fellowship and service. He furnishes and di- rects her with various gifts, both hierarchical and charismatic, and adorns her with the fruits of His grace (cf. Eph. 4:11-12, 1 Cor. 12:4, Gal. 5:22). By the power of the gospel He makes the Church grow, perpetually renews her. . ." (Lumen Gentium, n. 4). Learning from the Saints A magnificent doctrine, which seems like a ladder coming down from the infinite and inaccessible mystery of divine life in itself, the Trinity, placing at the center of the divine plans and human desti- nies Christ's work of redemption, and drawing from it an extra- ordinary revelation, accessible to us in some way, the communion of our human lives with an order of salvation and goodness, which is the order of grace. From this order there appears a plan of unity and supernatural charity, and there spreads a resplendent economy of holiness, in which human events, psychology especially and moral and spiritual phenomenology, becomes a marvellous garden of superhuman beauty and variety. Well-known truths or truths that should be better known, because from the ordinary information we have about them the most im- portant thing is lacking, the analysis of holiness, as it gushes forth from the vital breath of grace. Here we would have a first recom- mendation to make in this connection: knowledge of the lives of the Saints. If in the past they offered a delightful pasture for popular culture and for the edifying fancy of devout people, for us today, trained in historical studies and psychological criticisms, they could offer a museum of incomparable human experiences and ex- citing examples for the possible progress of a real moral and spiritual improvement. Remember: "si isti et istae, cur non ego"? (If these men and women could do it, why can't I?) Necessity of Grace But we must immediately remember that grace is necessary (a divine intervention, transcending the natural order), both for our personal salvation and for the fulfillment of the plan of redemption for the whole Church and all mankind, whom God's mercy calls to salvation (1 Tim. 2:4). Let us refer to the great chapter on the doctrine on grace and justification, of which the Council of Trent had so much to say (cf. Denz. Sch. 1520-1583), and which modern theology still discusses as a subject of supreme interest. The necessity of grace presupposes an absolute need on the part of man; the need that the miracle of Pentecost should continue in the history of the Church and of the world. It must continue in the double form with which the gift of the Holy Spirit is granted to men, to sanctify them in the first place (and this is the primary and indispVisable form by which man becomes the object of God's love, "gratum faciens," as the theologians say), and to enrich them with special prerogatives, which we call charisms ("gratis data"), in relation to the good of their neighbor and especially of the community of the faithful (cf. S. Th., I-II, 111:4). A great deal is said about charisms today; and, taking into account the com- plexity and delicacy of such a subject, we cannot but hope that a new abundance, not only of grace, but also of charisms will still be granted to the Church of God today (cf. the recent study by Cardinal L. J . Suenens: "Une Nouvelle Pentecôte?"). Work of the Spirit At present we will just recall the main conditions on the part of man to receive God's Gift par excellence, which is the Holy Spirit, Who, as we know, "blows where it wills" (Jn. 3:8), but does not refuse the longing of those who wait for Him, call Him and welcome Him, (even though this longing itself comes from a deep inspira- tion of His). What are these conditions? Let us simplify the diffi- cult answer by saying that the capacity to receive this "dulcis Hospes animae" calls for faith, calls for humility and repentance, and normally calls for a sacramental act. Moreover, in the practice of our religious life it demands silence, meditation, listening, and above all invocation and prayer, as the Apostles did with Mary in the Upper Room. It is necessary to be able to wait, to be able to call: Come, oh Creator Spirit . . . ; come, oh Holy Spirit! (cf. Les plus beaux textes sur le Saint-Esprit, Mme Arsene-Henry D'Ormes- son, La Colombe, 1957). If the Church is able to enter a phase of similar preparation for the new and perennial coming of the Holy Spirit, He, the "Light of hearts," will not hesitate to give Himself, for the joy, the light, the fortitude, the apostolic virtue and unitive charity, which the Church needs today. And so may it be, with our Apostolic Blessing. imi , ; ííiffKi