"We rejoice with you, dear friends, at the renewal of the spiritual life manifested in the Church today, in different forms and in various environnements. [...] In all that, we can recognize the mysterious and discreet work of the Spirit, who is the soul of the church".

Paul VI, I International Leaders' Conference, Grottaferrata (Rome) 10 October 1973


"How then could this "spiritual renewal" not be "a chance" for the church and for the world? And how, in this case, could one not take all the means to ensure that it remains so?"

Paul VI, III International Charismatic Congress, Vatican Basilica, 19 May 1975 (Pentecost Solemnity)


"I am convinced that this movement is a sign of His action (of the Spirit). The world is much in need of this action of the Holy Spirit... Now I see this movement, this activity everywhere..."

John Paul II to the Council of the International Office of the Charismatic Renewal, 11 December 1979


"This morning I have the joy of meeting this assembly of yours, in which I see young people, adults, old people, men and women, united in the profession of the same faith, sustained by longing for the same hope, bound together by bonds of that charity which "has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Rm. 5:5). To this effusion of the Spirit we know we owe a deeper and deeper experience of the presence of Christ, thanks to which we can grow daily in loving knowledge of the Father. Rightly, therefore, your movement pays particular attention to the action, mysterious but real, that the third person of the Holy Trinity plays in the Christian's life"

John Paul II, First audience to the Italian Charismatic Renewal, 23 November 1980


"Your reputation goes before you, like that of his beloved Philippians, which prompted the Apostle Paul to begin his letter to them with a sentiment I am happy to echo: "I give thanks to my God every time I think of you...""

John Paul II, IV International Leaders' Conference, 4-10 May 1981


"... I ask you, and all the members of the Charismatic Renewal, to continue to cry aloud to the world with me: "Open the doors to the Redeemer"... The church's mission is to proclaim Christ to the world. You share effectively in this mission insofar as your groups and communities are rooted in the local churches..."

John Paul II, V International Leaders' Conference, 30 April 1984


"This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church. The vigour and fruitfulness of the Renewal certainly attest to the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit at work in the church in these years after the Second Vatican Council. Of course, the Spirit has guided the church in every age, producing a great variety of gifts among the faithful. Because of the Spirit, the church preserves a continual youthful vitality, and the Charismatic Renewal is an eloquent manifestation of this vitality today, a bold statement of what "the Spirit is saying to the churches" (Rev. 2:7) as we approach the close of the second millennium"

John Paul II, VI International Leaders' conference, Rome 15 May 1987


"The Holy Spirit is at work in groups such as yours, drawing you to prayer and filling you with joy in adoring and praising the Lord... How can anyone who has tasted the goodness of Christ remain silent and inactive?"

John Paul II, to the leaders of the Catholic Fraternity of Covenant Charismatic Communities and Fellowships, Rome 7 December 1991


"As you celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, I willingly join you in giving praise to God for the many fruits which it has borne in the life of the Church. The emergence of the Renewal following the Second Vatican Council was a particular gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church"

John Paul II, to the ICCRO Council, Rome 14th March 1992


"You have just completed a spiritual retreat in Assisi, the city of St. Francis and also of St. Clare... These great figures of holiness in the Church made their own the words of St. Paul: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Gal 2:20)". Is this not the ideal and goal which permeates the Charismatic Renewal? Is it not the programme of life which your prayer groups and your communities have set themselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit? May the example and intercession of the great Saints of Assisi strengthen your resolve to grow continually in evangelical love and service "to the mesure and the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph 4:13)"

John Paul II, after Assisi Retreat, Castel Gandolfo 18 September 1993


"Your efforts to make known to others the joy of your faith in Christ will not only contribute to strengthening the life of the local Churches to which you belong, but will also inspire a deeper and more mature faith among your own members"

John Paul II to participants in the plenary assembly of the CFCCCF, Rome 14 November 1994


"How can we fail to praise God for the abundant fruit which in recent decades the Renewal has brought about in the lives of individuals and in communities?"

John Paul II, to leader of CFCCCF at the VII Int'l meeting, Rome 9th November 1996


"The Catholic Charismatic Renewal has helped many Christians to rediscover the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, in the life of the Church and in the world, and this rediscovery has awakened in them a faith in Christ filled with joy, a great love of the Church and a generous dedication to her evangelizing mission. In this year of the Holy Spirit, I join you in praise of God for the precious fruits which he has wished to bring to maturity in your communities and, through them, in the particular Churches"

John Paul II, IX International Leaders' Conference, Fiuggi-Rome 30th October 1998


 

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