The Catholic Charismatic Renewal

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal today is the outgrowth of a retreat held in February, 1967 of several faculty members and students from Duquesne University. Many experienced a movement of God’s Spirit called being “baptized in the Holy Spirit.” 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. This outpouring of the Holy Spirit is a life transforming experience of the love of the Father poured into one’s heart by the Holy Spirit.

What happened quickly spread to graduate students and professors at the University of Notre Dame and others serving in campus ministries in Michigan. The Spirit has moved so many that today the Catholic Charismatic Renewal exists in over 238 countries in the world, having touched over 100 million Catholics in its over 50-year existence.

As early as 1969, only two years after the Renewal started, the United States Bishops investigated the fledgling movement. The Committee on Doctrine wrote that “theologically the movement has legitimate reasons of existence. It has a strong biblical basis. It would be difficult to inhibit the working of the Spirit which manifested itself so abundantly in the early Church.”

Pope John Paul II was an enthusiastic supporter of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Soon after becoming Pope in 1979 he said, “I am convinced that this movement is a sign of the Spirit’s action . . . a very important component in the total renewal of the Church.” He met with international leaders of the Renewal on a number of occasions and regularly sent greetings to National and International Conferences on the Renewal.

For the 50th Anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in 2017, Pope Francis called all charismatics from 130 countries of the world to Rome to celebrate Pentecost.  At this Golden Jubilee the Pope gave this message to all the participants: “I thank God for these 50 years of the Holy Spirit sovereign which is the source of the current of grace that is the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Happy Golden Jubilee!”

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal has been active in the Diocese of Birmingham for over 50 years through many Charismatic Prayer Groups and Life in the Spirit Seminars. Catholic Charismatic Renewal Conferences have been held locally for 21 years. This year the Conference will be held on July 21st & 22nd, 2023 in the Family Life Center at Our Lady of Sorrow Catholic Church, 1728 Oxmoor Road, Homewood, AL 35209.  The conference theme is “Victory in Jesus” and it will feature Father James Blount, an internationally known healing ministry priest of the Society of Our Lady of the Trinity (SOLT) of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Georgia.  He is a very gifted spiritual director and confessor and a bold charismatic preacher endowed and empowered with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

More information will follow.