CAT-CAM · The Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR): an Historical Analysis Between US and Europe

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR): an Historical Analysis Between US and Europe

Globalization, the interaction between different religious cultures through migratory flux and the formation of new global political and economic equilibria, have resulted in the blurring of traditional borders between Christian confessions and their relationship with societies. New spiritual and religious forms, like Pentecostalism and new charismatic movements, are profoundly transforming Christianity both in Europe and in the rest of the world. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is one of the Catholic responses to all these changes, insomuch as today it counts more than 120 million followers worldwide. Studying the North American and European origins of the Catholic Charismatic movement is crucial to better understand what is going on in terms of religion, culture, and society according to a global perspective which shows how the Christian world is becoming more pentecostalist and charismatic. This study focusses on the analysis of primary sources concerning the origin of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) in the United States and its first developments in Europe and other continents. The project aims at harmonizing archival material, “first-hand” historiographical, sociological and theological texts on the CCR, and oral sources. The expected results of the project were fully achieved. The first objective was to analyze the initial features and rapid growth of the CCR in the North American context and consequently the development of the movement in Europe. Early CCR leaders were North American and were therefore at home in molding the movement as a North American renewal. Over time this North American influence was apparent in the rest of the renewal as well but in some instances, it contrasted with other local visions of the movement. The second objective of the project was to investigate the reaction of the Catholic Church hierarchy to the CCR. While the Catholic hierarchy initially distanced itself, this approach was later superseded by the legitimization of the movement, thanks to the work of a number of theologians and the ecclesiastical hierarchy who located the movement’s religious practices within the tradition of the church. Problematize the issue of gender within the CCR was the third objective. Although this topic wasn’t at the center of the historical narrative of the movement, it played an important role in defining the Catholic charismatic identity since the beginning. In fact, the predominance of males among Charismatic lay leaders and certain charismatic literature which assigned only specific roles to women costed strong criticism among detractors. The US-Italy mobility offered by the outgoing phase has been beneficial because enabled the fellow to move and interact seamlessly and to work with an excellent network built between the partner organization (University of Notre Dame) and the host institution (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice).

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз