Charismatic Renewal - Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle

Charismatic Renewal

What is the Renewal?
Described as a "radical renewal of living faith", the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement began in 1967 when a group of students and staff of Duquesne University, USA, had a moving experience of the Holy Spirit while in fervent prayer on a weekend retreat.

These young people began to praise God, to give thanks to him, both in English and by praying in tongues and to have words of prophecy (not foretelling the future, but rather proclaiming God's Word for the here and now).

They began to believe in, and experience, God's power to heal spiritually, emotionally and physically. All these gifts were experienced as "ordinary" by St Paul and the Church in Corinth.

The fire spread quickly all over the USA and to many other countries around the world. It has been the fastest growing movement in the Catholic Church. By 1985, 30 to 50 million Catholics worldwide had experienced the Charismatic Renewal.

The Renewal quickly spread to Australia and in 1972, it arrived in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. Prayer Groups continue to meet regularly in various parts of the diocese.

Encouraged by our Popes
Pope Paul VI, in 1975 said that: "the Church lives by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit ... He furnishes and directs her with various gifts, both hierarchical and charismatic ... The Church and the world need more than ever that 'the miracle of Pentecost' should continue in history. Nothing is more necessary to this increasingly secularised world than the witness of this spiritual renewal that we see the Holy Spirit evoking ..."

"How then could this spiritual renewal not be good fortune for the Church and for the world? It ought to rejuvenate the world, give it back a spirituality, a soul, a religious thought. It ought to reopen its closed lips to prayer and open its mouth to song, to joy, to hymns and to witnessing." He ended with the proclamation: "Jesus is the Lord! Alleluia!"

Pope John Paul II at a special audience for Charismatic leaders at Vatican City in 1984 said: "The Church's mission is to proclaim Christ to the world. And you share effectively in this mission ... real openness to the Holy Spirit as it vivifies and guides the Church helps you to live in union with the Lord Jesus. It is your strength and your special treasure ..."

Speaking in 1992, Pope John Paul II said: "One of the most important results of the spiritual awakening since the Second Vatican Council has been that increased thirst for holiness which is seen in the lives of individuals and in the whole Church." The pope concluded his remarks by declaring: "Long live the Charismatic Renewal."