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From Tiny Beginnings, Catholic Charismatics Celebrate 53 Years of Holy Spirit-Led Renewal

From Tiny Beginnings, Catholic Charismatics Celebrate 53 Years of Holy Spirit-Led Renewal Read Transcript


- [Narrator] Pope Francis began

Pentecost 2017 celebrationswith a prayer and praise vigil

at the ancient Circus Maximus in Rome.

Thousands of Christiansfrom around the world

joined the Pope to mark the 50th Jubilee

of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

(crowd singing)

The college-aged Americanpioneers of the Renewal

are now its elders andmany were in attendance.

In their lifetime, the Renewal has sparked

a new Pentecost among Catholics worldwide.

The movement began in 1967,

when the gifts of theHoly Spirit were bestowed

upon a group of DuquesneUniversity students

on retreat at The Ark and The Dove.

Kevin and Dorothy Ranaghan remember

when friends first told themabout the Duquesne outpouring.

- My reaction here was prettynegative and so was Dorothy's.

But we knew these people well.

I mean they were solid, responsible,

renewal-minded Catholics,and they were scholars.

I mean we were all inthe intellectual life.

We were all students or professors

in Theology, Church History, Philosophy.

- And so we could seethat even in their faces,

there was something changed and different.

And so, although we wanted todiscount what they were saying

as sounding a littlefringy, we could not deny

the experience we saw theyhad had, had changed them.

And whatever it was I think we came to see

we wanted that too.

- [Narrator] Newly married at the time,

Kevin taught Theology at St.Mary's College in Indiana.

Dorothy was a Catholichigh school teacher.

Both earned Master's Degrees in Theology

from the University of Notre Dame.

After hearing about hiscolleagues at Duquesne,

Kevin embarked on a sixweek study of the scriptures

and received the baptismin the Holy Spirit

at a Bible study, among fellow Catholics.

- And it was so changing.

I mean suddenly, even thatnight scripture was alive,

my faith was renewed, filled with joy.

- [Narrator] Dorothy received the baptism

the next day alone in a chapel.

- It was like the Lord planted a flag

in the center of my life and said,

"This is permanent.

"Hang on to this," ya know.

And it changed everything.

- [Narrator] The couple sought out

the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship,

an organization withroots in Pentecostalism,

to learn how to usethe gifts for ministry.

- And I can't imagine how hereacted to this phone call.

"Hi, we're a bunch ofCatholics from Notre Dame

"and we've just beenbaptized in the Holy Spirit,

"and we would like to findout about the spiritual gifts.

"Can you help us?"

- [Narrator] After spending some time

with the Full Gospel Business Men,

the Ranaghans began to lead meetings

on the Notre Dame campusand witness the gifts

of the Spirit flowing freely.

- Well we had these large prayer meetings

sometimes 400 people every week.

They were amazing meetings in that

we were all so new to this.

- [Narrator] Just after Easter in 1967,

Catholic students fromtop American universities

met at Notre Dame

to learn more about theDuquesne outpouring.

Ralph Martin, a NotreDame Philosophy graduate,

was a campus ministryleader when he brought

40 students from MichiganState to the gathering.

- They called it the FirstInternational Catholic

Charismatic Conference because

there was one nun from Canada who came.

(laughs)

- [Narrator] That summer several

Duquesne University studentslived with Lutheran Pastor

and founding CBN boardmember Harold Bredesen

in his parish home near New York City

to learn street evangelism.

- We realized that wehad a responsibility,

not just to preach the gospel,

but to learn how to do it well

and to be effective at it.

Not just kinda throwing it at people.

- [Narrator] Back at NotreDame, Catholic Priests, nuns

and lay leaders attendedthe Renewal meetings

while on campus, for continuing education.

- When they went home,they took this with them.

They went all over the United States.

They went to Australia.

They went to the Philippines.

They went to various countries in Europe.

- [Narrator] After theNational Catholic Reporter

ran newspaper coverage ofthe outpouring, Pope Paul VI

sent Cardinal Suenens of Belgium,one of the four moderators

of Vatican II to evaluatewhat was happening.

The cardinal met withRalph Martin and observed

various student groups.

- "So all my life," hesaid, "I've been searching

"for wherever the Holy Spirit's working,

"trying to understand what's happening.

"I came here.

"I see the Holy Spirit's working.

" I wanna do whatever I canto help you integrate this

"and open the wholeCatholic Church up to it

"and bring you into thevery center of things."

- [Narrator] CardinalSuenens invited Ralph Martin

and his young familyto Belgium to help lead

the Renewal in Europe.

By 1975, 10 thousand Catholic Charismatics

from around the worldjoined Cardinal Suenens

in Rome for Pentecost.

(crowd applauding)

- Be a sign to the world andshow them, by the radiance

of your faith that Christ is risen!

(crowd cheering)

- [Narrator] Pope Paul VIentered St. Peter's Basilica

and addressed the movementas a chance for the church.

The Renewal also birthednew religious orders

and increased the number ofthose called into ministry.

In the early 1970s,Father George Montague,

a Pauline Scholar and professorat St. Mary's University

in Texas, received thebaptism in the Holy Spirit,

after a nun who had attendedthe Notre Dame meetings,

demonstrated spiritual gifts.

- Well here's the New Testamentalive, right in front of me.

(laughs) As it happens, theHoly Spirit is coming right,

right in front of me.

Ya know, I had been a, I hadbeen baptized and confirmed.

I had made religious vows.

I was ordained as a priest, ya know.

And so, all those things kindof blocked me a little bit

because ya know, what more do I need?

- [Narrator] After 25 yearsof ministry in the Renewal,

Father Montague, alongwith Father Bob Hogan

formed Brothers of the Beloved Discipled,

to serve in San Antonio Texas.

- The Holy Spirit empowers our ministry

through the spiritualgifts so that God can,

people can say, "Wow!Truly God is in your midst.

"Truly Jesus is reaching out to me."

- [Narrator] Today morethan 120 million Catholics

in 240 countries enjoy life in the spirit.

(crowd singing and worshiping)

As the pioneers of themovement recall their history

they anticipate greater HolySpirit-inspired wonders ahead.

From Sister Elaina'surgent letters to Pope Leo

to the 1901 outpouring in Kansas.

To the Azusa Street Revival,to the Duquesne weekend

and beyond.

All of these events declarethe gifts of the Holy Spirit

are intended for every generation.

As the Spirit works to uniteall Christians to Christ

and to each other, inorder to reach the world.

- It's a surprise of theHoly Spirit that's opening up

great new possibilities.

And we don't know what's next.

We have a sense, I knowwe have a sense here.

The Lord's getting readyto do something big.

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