Pope Leo XIV received the members of CHARIS this Saturday, May 30, in the Paul VI Hall, the body that coordinates the Catholic Charismatic Renewal worldwide. In his first audience with this movement since the beginning of his pontificate, the Holy Father expressed his desire to strengthen the bonds between the Holy See and the charismatic family, which his predecessors defined as a gift for the entire Church.
During his address, the Pontiff highlighted some of the elements he considers essential in the experience of the Charismatic Renewal: baptism in the Spirit, the prayer of praise, love for Sacred Scripture, ecclesial communion, and charity. Leo XIV recalled the teachings of Paul VI, Saint John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis on this movement, emphasizing its contribution to evangelization and the spiritual renewal of numerous faithful around the world.
The Pope also invited the charismatics to place themselves at the service of dioceses and parishes, to collaborate closely with their pastors, and to cultivate unity among the various communities. In the final part of his speech, he exhorted them to avoid any form of self-promotion, pursuit of power, or personal prestige, and encouraged them to keep alive their commitment to the poor and those who suffer, recalling that charity is an essential manifestation of the action of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church.
Below, we provide the full address delivered by Leo XIV to the members of CHARIS:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you!
Your Eminence, Excellencies, dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome. Good morning!
I am pleased to have my first meeting with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and to greet all those present, as well as the communities, groups, and schools of prayer and evangelization that you represent. God has truly blessed your communities with many gifts, including spiritual vitality. I also greet the leaders of the National and International Services of Communion of the International Service of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CHARIS), who have organized this meeting.
For the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, the years following the Second Vatican Council were a time of great expansion and growth, of integration into the life of the Church, and of consolidation of its structures of service.
My venerable predecessors recognized this development as a great gift to the Church. Indeed, Saint Paul VI stated that nothing is more necessary for an increasingly secularized world than the witness of this spiritual renewal that the Holy Spirit raises up in the most diverse regions and communities.
Highlighting your characteristic focus on evangelization, Saint John Paul II said: “It is the Spirit himself who impels you to bear witness.” And he added: “How can anyone who has tasted the goodness of Christ remain silent and inactive? Christ is our Savior. How can we not evangelize? Continue to communicate this zeal for the Gospel to those around you.”
For his part, Benedict XVI referred to the specific contribution you offer to the Church. He said: “One of the elements and positive aspects of the community of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is precisely its emphasis on the charisms or gifts of the Holy Spirit, and its merit lies in having recalled their relevance in the Church.”
Like Cardinal Suenens in the early days of the movement, Pope Francis often spoke of you as a “current of grace,” which is “for the whole Church, not only for some.” In summary, he described your path as “evangelization, spiritual ecumenism, attention to the poor and needy, and welcome of the marginalized,” and added: “All of this is based on adoration! The foundation of renewal is to worship God!”
I too wish to foster the relationship of mutual respect, closeness, and support between the See of Peter and the great family of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. In this regard, I would like to reflect on some key aspects of your spiritual experience: baptism in the Spirit, the prayer of praise, the Word of God, communion, and charity.
First, baptism in the Spirit. Your common journey of faith has its source in the personal experience of the Holy Spirit, who has made the grace of Baptism effective in each of you, leading you to a clear awareness of God’s love. This is the first powerful experience of grace that Saint Augustine himself had after his conversion and which he described with these heartfelt words: “O Christ Jesus, ‘my help and my redeemer’; suddenly it became sweet to me to be without the sweetness of folly. What I once feared to lose was now a joy to abandon. You cast them out and entered in their place, more delightful than any pleasure.”
The Holy Spirit has also enabled you to taste the sweetness of Christ. For you too, life changed from that moment. God ceased to be a mere idea and became the real and definitive expression of fatherhood. His Spirit has brought inner reconciliation, peace, and freedom from worldly attachments and the oppression of sin. It has also made possible a new outlook, marked by openness and hope toward others and toward the future, with the certainty that nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of Christ. From this experience of the Holy Spirit is born the inner desire to be witnesses and heralds of his love, bringing his consolation to those oppressed by emptiness and loneliness.
The prayer of praise. Precisely from this captivating experience of the Holy Spirit was born a new life of prayer, which took the form of a new capacity for spontaneous and sincere dialogue with God, and a new openness to praise, adoration, and thanksgiving. Adoration and praise, so characteristic of your gatherings, are essential aspects of Christian prayer, and you have contributed to their rediscovery and renewed prominence in recent years.
The Word of God. The renewed outpouring of the Spirit has also led you to a living encounter with Sacred Scripture. The Holy Spirit inspired the revealed Word of God and is also the one who keeps it ever alive and active in the Church, making it resound in the hearts of believers, especially in the liturgy. That is why Scripture has become for you a wonderful source of spiritual nourishment that enlightens and consoles. It is also a source of discernment to guide your daily decisions and gives substance to communal prayer, allowing you to address the Lord with words inspired by God himself.
Communion. The Holy Spirit is the source of communion. In various documents, Pope Leo XIII encouraged Catholics to pray each year a novena to the Holy Spirit between the feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost, especially for the intention of Christian unity. You clearly appreciate the meaning of this invitation, for you have seen that unity in the Church is the fruit of the Spirit, because, as Saint Augustine affirms, the Holy Spirit “is a certain ineffable communion of the Father and the Son.” It is the Spirit who creates harmony among the various charisms and components of the Charismatic Renewal, as well as with our brothers and sisters of other Christian confessions.
And finally, charity. Saint Augustine wrote that the Holy Spirit, “who is love itself, has been given to man and inflames him in the love of God and neighbor. For man cannot have love for God unless it is given to him by God.” This is what you too have experienced. The renewed presence of the Spirit has awakened in you a new capacity to love, inspired by the same divine charity. This love is directed toward God and toward your brothers and sisters, and inspires closeness and compassion, especially toward those who suffer. Many works of charity for those in need, both in spirit and in body, have been born from the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. I therefore invite you to keep this love for the poor alive, which reveals the true face of God.
Dear friends, I thank you for your commitment and encourage you to continue your mission. Place yourselves at the service of dioceses and parishes, offering your experience and your methods of evangelization. Continue to follow faithfully the guidance of your priests; and, in your communal discernment, listen to the voice of wise persons, even if they do not belong to your groups. Cultivate harmony and cooperation among the communities to which you belong, taking care never to yield to the desire for self-promotion, nor to the pursuit of power or personal prestige. May the Holy Spirit always be light and a source of strength on your personal and communal journey, and may the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, protect you. And now, with these sincere sentiments, I gladly impart to you my apostolic blessing.
Thank you.