Rome, Italy, May 30, 2017 / 02:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Some 30,000 followers of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal will be in Rome this week to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the movement with meetings and Mass, culminating in a prayer vigil led by Pope Francis in the Circus Maximus.
The May 31 – June 4 jubilee is being organized by the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services and the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships.
The celebrations are capped on each end by events with Pope Francis, starting with the Wednesday General Audience and ending with Mass in St. Peter’s Square for Pentecost.
On the vigil of Pentecost the Pope will address participants during an ecumenical prayer vigil.
Organizers told journalists Tuesday that they expect participants to hail from some 220 countries around the world. Of these, around 300 are evangelical or Pentecostal leaders.
There will also be 600 priests and 50 bishops present.
The program includes meetings, symposia and workshops in locations across Rome, including testimony by some of the witness of the early years of the charismatic renewal.
Other smaller events throughout will include Eucharistic adoration, concerts, conferences, and street evangelization. Mass on Friday will be said by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.
Salvatore Martinez, president of Italy's Catholic charismatic association, told journalists May 30 that the Golden Jubilee is a sign of communion, unity, and charity.
"The Pope urges us to be protagonists of history, and to make these charisms a dynamism of love for men of our time," he said. "Spiritual ecumenism will be the culminating moment, the heart of this spiritual celebration."
This spiritual ecumenism will not include discussion of doctrine, according of Michelle Moran, president of ICCRS.
Gilberto Gomes Barbosa, head of the Catholic Fraternity, said the work must be about “spiritual communion,” not indoctrination.
Pope Francis met with members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal at Roman gatherings in 2014 and 2015.
Speaking June 1, 2014, the Pope voiced hope that both evangelical and Catholic charismatic groups, would share the same office as a sign of ecumenism.
His attendance for two consecutive years at the Catholic charismatic movement’s Renewal with the Spirit convocation and his planned participation during this year’s Golden Jubilee celebration show his attention to charismatic movements as a means to foster an ecumenical path and dialogue.
Article Archive
In Rome, Catholic Charismatic Renewal to celebrate 50 years
Related Articles • More Articles
Pope Francis converses with Metropolitan Agathangelos, director general of the Apostolikí Diakonía of the Greek Orthodox Church, at the Vatican on May 16, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, May 16, 2024 / 16:18 pm (CNA).Pope Francis has placed in young people his hope that Catholics and Orthodox may be "united in diversity" and "break the chains" of antagonism, misunderstanding, and prejudice that have kept them prisoners for centuries.In a Thursday audience, the Holy Father received the director-general of the Apostolikí Diakonía of the Orthodox Church of Greece, Metropolitan Agathangelos, and a delegation from the Theological College of Athens.The Apostolikí Diakonía is the official publishing house and missionary arm of the Orthodox Christian Church of Greece. Since 1936 it has published hundreds of books on Christian theology and tradition, Orthodox spirituality, and biblical studies.At the beginning of his talk given at the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, the ...
In an interview with 60 Minutes' Norah O'Donnell, airing this Sunday, Pope Francis took aim at his "conservative critics" in the United States. / Credit: CBS News/Adam VerdugoCNA Staff, May 16, 2024 / 16:58 pm (CNA).In an interview with "60 Minutes" airing this Sunday, Pope Francis takes aim at his "conservative critics" in the United States, reportedly saying a conservative is someone who "clings to something and does not want to see beyond that.""It is a suicidal attitude," the pope said as reported by "60 Minutes," which released a brief clip of the upcoming interview conducted by CBS' Nora O'Donnell. "Because one thing is to take tradition into account, to consider situations from the past, but quite another is to be closed up inside a dogmatic box."The Pope addresses his conservative critics in the church."Conservative is one who clings to something and does not want to see beyond that. It is a suicidal attitude," says Pope Francis. This Sunday on ...
Jessica Tapia displays a sign outside the Garden Grove Unified School District board meeting on behalf of the Teachers Don't Lie program. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Advocates for Faith and Freedom and Jessica TapiaCNA Staff, May 16, 2024 / 18:04 pm (CNA).A Christian teacher settled in court for $360,000 earlier this week after suing a California school district board for firing her after she refused to comply with gender ideology rules that went against her religious beliefs.After refusing to comply with a preferred pronoun rule, Jessica Tapia was fired by the Jurupa Unified School District from her job as a physical education teacher."It ultimately really does come down to my faith and how I believe that it's always worth it to stand for righteousness and fight for truth," Tapia told CNA in a phone call. "And ultimately, I believe the word of God is that truth and is the instructions we've been given to live our life upon. There's really nothing else or no one else that I lea...