This very brief article in the Catholic journal Crux reveals that Pope Francis is hosting a celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the beginnings of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR hereafter). He admitted that when the CCR first came to Argentina where he was a young priest he did not think much of it, believing it to be a sort of “Samba school.” But as he saw the effect of the CCR on the Argentine Catholic Church he became more and more appreciative of it.

Pope Francis has intentionally opened up the celebration to Pentecostals and charismatics who are non-Catholic.[1] The celebrations will begin at the end of May and be highlighted with two prayer events (a night vigil and open air mass) on June 3 & 4.

Stay tuned for more news on this.

For your information, the CCR has 120 million adherents world-wide, mostly in the Third World. This is so because in the Third World there is often much open witchcraft and shamanism which demands the gifts of the Sprit to effectively counter. Not so in the United States, where Satan has made great gains by lying low and allowing atheism and agnosticism to thrive and send people to hell.

“Carolyn and I standing with an Anglican Bishop from Africa to my left and Dorothy and Kevin Ranaghan seated. They were part of the original Duquesne Catholic group that began the CCR, and have remained its most influential leaders.”

The CCR began in the United States in 1967, when some instructors and students in Duquesne University were moved by reading David Wilkerson’s The Cross and Switchblade, a highly anointed book which was then a best-seller and mainstay of charismatics of all denominations.[2] In its first years, the CCR grew exponentially, especially in the United States. It seemed as if the entire Catholic Church would be swept up in revival and Pentecost. Significantly, CCR groups that became covenant communities, where whole families lived together, were the organizing arm of the great charismatic/Pentecostal conventions, including “Kansas City 1977” and later ones.

From left to right: Carolyn and Bill De Arteaga and Bill’s sister, Gloria.
Three Catholics awaiting a new wave of the Spirit: Carolyn, a “crypto-Catholic” (Carolyn ministers in a Pentecostal church but says she would happily join the Catholic Church because of its beautiful churches); Bill, an ex-Catholic and now happy “Anglican Pentecostal;” and Bill’s sister Gloria, who has always been Catholic.

Ironically, David Wilkerson did not like that and remained a stout anti-Catholic all of his life. In fact, at the beginning of the CCR he prophesied that the Catholic Bishops would come down on the CCR and Spirit-filled Catholics. They would have to come over to traditional Pentecostalism.[3] Of course that did not happen, but the breaks seemed to have come on in the American CCR in the 1980s. Just why is unclear. My sense is that the CCR stumbled by confusing the ministry of the Holy Spirit and his presence, with exaggerated Marian devotion, and that grieved the Sprit.[4] Thankfully, that sad story was not repeated in the Third World where the CCR continues strong even to this day. In Africa, for instance, the CCR cooperates with the Anglican churches, which are largely charismatic, and are joined in producing an ongoing revival.

On a personal note, I first encountered the CCR in 1974, after years in the atheistic wilderness, in a Catholic home bible study group. That was two years after my sister, a nun (who recently celebrated her 55^th year as a Sister of Charity), wrote me about the CCR. I thought she had gone crazy – until I received the same “insanity.”

Sister Gloria with her Guatemalan postulants.

Sister Gloria, my sister (see pictures), was one of the first nuns of the order to embrace it. Later, she joined a convent that was all charismatic and dedicated to bringing the CCR to her order, the Sisters of Charity. That, sadly, did not happen.

Back to the present. The Pope’ invitation to Catholics and other Spirit-Filled believers is wonderful news. Perhaps the Spirit is laying the groundwork for new wave of revival and Holy Spirit power, and that this time it will not ebb, but even refresh older Pentecostals and charismatics who have been hit hard by the TV Evangelists’ scandals. I am praying that this be true. Join me in praying for revival.

Learn more: Catholic Charismatic Renewal Golden Jubilee 2017

Notes

[1] Does this phrase, “charismatics who are non-Catholic,” irritate you? As a pious Catholic kid in the 1950’s I believed the real divide in the world was between Catholics and non-Catholics. Similarly, at the same time my future wife believed the world was divided between Baptists and non-Baptists.

[2] David Wilkerson, The Cross and the Switchblade (New York: Pyramid Books, 1970).

[3] David Wilkerson, The Vision: A Terrifying Prophecy of Doomsday that is Starting to Happen Now! (New York: Pyramid, 1974). His false (and potentially destructive) prophecy is a case study of a fine Pentecostal minister and anointed leader who could not discern his own prejudices from the voice of the Spirit. This is why Paul enjoined all prophecy to be tested.

[4] The great Catholic theologian of the CCR tactfully says the same thing, see his masterwork evaluation of the CCR: Peter Hocken, The Glory and the Shame: Reflections on the 20th Century Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Gilford: Eagle, 1994) [Editor’s note: Read William De Arteaga’s review of The Glory and the Shame].

Cindy Jacobs, The Reformation Manifesto: Your Part in God’s Plan to Change the Nations Today (Bloomington, Minnesota: Bethany House, 2008), 238 pages, ISBN 9780764205026.

Texan Cindy Jacobs is an international leader in the modern prayer movement. With her husband, Mike, she founded Generals International which works to achieve social transformation through intercession and prophetic ministry. Her writings, including Possessing the Gates of the Enemy and The Voice of God, and television program, God Knows, tend to call for intercession, repentance, and renewal. A notable aspect of Jacobs’ work is its aim not only at religious revival or spiritual renewal but also social transformation. Further, a key aspect of the present volume is an emphasis on social transformation on an international scale. In fact, it compares and contrasts what Jacobs perceives as a move of God toward changing the nations that is a completion of the 16^th century Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther and others. This is a popular level book that uses a lot of scriptural quotes and references, testimonies and examples, and includes frequent prayers and challenges to action. Likely it will most benefit those interested in a contemporary Charismatic Renewal approach integrating spirituality and social transformation.

Popular Charismatic leaders such as C. Peter Wagner are increasingly declaring that the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) is much more than evangelism. Wagner, in his Forward to Jacobs, The Reformation Manifesto, confesses that many, including him, “have for too long harbored a truncated view of the kingdom of God”, explaining further that they “began by over-identifying the church with the kingdom” and proceeded to limit their mission to saving souls without improving society. He specifically names the Great Commission, confessing again, that he “used to think making disciples meant getting people saved and multiplying churches” but that he has come to see a broader vision, in agreement with Jacobs, that includes “sustained social transformation”. This integrative application of Christian mission, the Great Commission, and social transformation is characteristic of this volume by Cindy Jacobs.

After an introduction that calls for a new reformation integrating revival, transformation, and reformation and explaining Jacobs’ own passion for this kind of ministry, the first chapter insists social reformation is founded upon prior personal reformation. Chapter two argues that social reformation today is in the tradition of previous generations of Christians who have shared a similar burden in their own context and time. The next several chapters set forth a vision of what nations ought to be and a course for accomplishing that objective, what Jacobs calls “teaching the nations” or “discipling the nations”. There is a strong emphasis on justice with accountability to God as ultimate judge. There is some discussion of the relationship between the Bible and contemporary government, including various approaches to political realities that affirm leaders and thinkers such as William Wilberforce and Abraham Kuyper as worthy examples but decry those such as Jean-Jacques Rouseau and Karl Marx. Chapters on economics and legislation attempt to set these complex and controversial fields in biblical perspective, in each case calling for radical reformation of present systems. The media, including journalism and entertainment, are not missed either. Finally, a stirring chapter on “Costly Grace,” ala Dietrich Bonhoeffer, challenges believers today to sacrificial action for achieving radical reformation.

Cindy Jacobs is a gifted communicator, and she’s passionate about her topic. She strenuously attempts to integrate Scripture, prayer, and Christian history and thought, as well as personal experience, and apply them to the contemporary social context. I find it refreshing that she interprets the Great Commission, the catch phrase of Christian mission for so many Evangelicals, Pentecostals, and Charismatics, with social mission and vision—and on an international scale at that. Her avid integration of spirituality and social activity is worth the price of the book. Her devotion is evident. It is a genuine treat to hear her heart and how God’s speaks and works in her life.