Preface

• Category:

• Charismatic Renewal

Among many movements in Catholic Church, the greatest reaction caused Catholic charismatic movement. Life style of catholic-charismats often makes people wonder, and sometimes, unfortunately, certain groups in the Church even object to it. Such solely charismatic phenomena, as gift of tongues or rest in Spirit, gift of prophecy or loud worship and praise, meet the misunderstanding from time to time of those who do not exactly know about theologic basis and establishment of those phenomena in the Church tradition.

The most common reproaches against Catholic-charismats may be put out in several points, as follows:

1. Spitirual gifts were needed only at the beginning of Church in order to consolidate neophyte Gentiles in Christianity, nowadays they are not needed, that is why they do not exist in Church.

2. Charismatic movement is an expression of modern tendencies and is absolutely not ingrained in Catholic tradition.

3. Charismatic movement objects to the tradition of Christian East.

4. Gift of tongues (Glossolaly) is a morbid phenomenon.

5. Gifts are the consequence of sanctity and ascesis, while charismats are not distinguished by some extraordinary sanctity. That's why gifts which they are talking about are either fruit of their imagination or fruit of evil spirit.

6. Charismatic movement is not acknowledged by Church authorities.

7. Charismats are a sect, and their activity in Church is harmful.

In this section we will try to provide argumentative answers to these reproaches. We will do this not by investigating them or trying to disapprove them, but we will try to investigate the Catholic charismatic movement starting from its roots till today by using Bible, documents of Catholic Church Episcopal government, works of Doctors of Church, life of saints and thoughts of famous theologians.