The Origins of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the United States: Early Developments in Indiana and Michigan and the Reactions of the Ecclesiastical Authorities

Abstract

The origins of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (hereafter, CCR) can be traced to Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA), in 1967, when two Catholics were baptised in the Holy Spirit. The movement soon spread to the University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN), Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI) and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI), all of which became centres of the expanding renewal. Here were the first organisational forms of the movement, such as the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service Committee (CCRSC, later NSC), and several other organised attempts at outreach, such as the Notre Dame Conferences. This article analyses the initial Catholic charismatic experiences in Indiana and Michigan, the formation of the first charismatic communities and the immediate reaction of the ecclesiastical authorities. While the Catholic hierarchy initially distanced itself, this approach was later superseded by the legitimisation of the movement, which was achieved due to the work of a number of theologians who located the movement's religious practices within the tradition of the Church, to Cardinal Léon Joseph Suenens's work of mediation between the CCR and the Vatican and to Pope Paul VI's welcome offered to Catholic charismatics at the Grottaferrata Conference (Italy) in 1973.

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