Charismatic Catholics Find Ally in Pope Francis

John Jessup, CBN News

Charismatic Catholics Find Ally in 

Pope Francis

By John Jessup

CBN News Anchor

Monday, September 28, 2015

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PHILADELPHIA-- In the same arena where the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers play on ice, thousands of worshippers met to pray for the fire of the Holy Spirit.

On the surface, it appeared to be a typical charismatic worship service. But this gathering was entirely unique. It consisted wholly of charismatic Catholics.

"We need the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is here," said Mary Cruz, who traveled 13 hours from Toronto, Canada for Mass at the Gathering of the Renewal. "Charismatics are here to set the world on fire."

Once seen as peculiar, even among fellow Catholics, charismatic Catholics have found an ally in Pope Francis. He has even invited them to the Vatican to celebrate Pentecost in 2017, which also marks the 50th anniversary of this spirit-filled movement, called the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

However, traditional Catholics have criticized the pope's work among Evangelicals. Some have even accused him of apostasy for allowing a group of Pentecostal pastors to pray for him at a prayer gathering in Buenos Aires not long before he was elected pontiff.

Spirit-filled church leaders say his aim is to build bridges with a movement that "bears good fruit" -- at a time when the family and traditional values are under attack.

"When the Pentecostals laid hands on him, that wasn't anything to do with what we think of as sacrilegious, it was just a fraternal brotherly gesture," explained Michelle Moran, president of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services. "I think it's part of his prophetic nature that he challenges the boundaries with us because he always gets us to think outside the box. It's one of the gifts of his pontificate."

Christine de Vollmer is a leader in the Catholic Church whose work promoting families has led her to build strong ties with evangelicals across Latin America and the United States. She views the intersection of their Christian faith and work as a supernatural alliance.

"We're all brothers and sisters in this fight," de Vollmer told CBN News. "To see the Catholic Church really understand that these are our allies, that [is] beautiful."

The reach across denominational lines includes CBN, which was invited by Vatican officials to share Superbook at an exhibit at the World Meeting of Families.

Justin Murff, who serves as an envoy to the Vatican for CBN, believes the burgeoning interest is opening new doors to work with the Catholic Church by providing Superbook as a tool for religious education for young Catholic children.

So far, it appears to be a hit. Murff and his team handed out a thousand free DVD's of "The Last Supper" to attendees within 20 minutes.

"These were priests, these were nuns, these were religious education teachers, teachers in public schools who said I want to give them to my kids and took five, ten, fifteen of them. So, it's amazing to see the impact that [Superbook] had."

It is that kind of impact Catholics and Christian charismatics hope will strengthen families and change the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.