Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “The authenticity of the new charisms is the guarantee for their willingness to submit themselves to the discernment of ecclesiastical authority. A large number of ecclesial movements and new communities are already recognized by the Holy See, and therefore, without a doubt, are considered a gift of God for the entire Church. Others, which are still in their beginning stages, require a more delicate and vigilant accompaniment on the part of the Pastors of the particular Churches.” This was what the Holy Father Benedict XVI reminded the Bishops participating in the Study Seminar on lay movements organized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, in an audience held on May 17.
“The current Seminar,” the Pope said, “has been intended as a continuation of the encounter which I myself held on June 3, 2006 with a large representation of faithful from over 100 new lay associations.” “The ecclesial movements and new communities,” Benedict XVI continued, “are a one of the most important gifts that the Holy Spirit has made to the Church through the Second Vatican Council. They were greatly spread shortly after the Council, in a time impregnated with enthusiasm and promise, but also marked by great difficulties...They already, then, began offering testimony to the joy, beauty, and reason in being Christians, manifesting their happiness as members of the mystery of communion that is the Church. We have witnessed the awakening of a vigorous missionary impulse, moved by the desire to communicate to all the precious experience of the encounter with Christ, understood and lived as the only adequate response to the profound thirst for truth and happiness in the human heart. How can we not also recognize that a new phenomena like this one awaits a deeper understanding in light of God’s plan and the mission of the Church in our time?”.
Thanks to the guidelines of the Pontiffs, “they have overcome many prejudices, resistance, and tensions,” the Holy Father recalled, mentioning the fact that “an important work is still yet to be accomplished in promoting a more mature communion among members of the Church, so that all charisms, according to their specific character, may contribute fully and freely to the edification of the one Body of Christ.”
The Holy Father Benedict XVI then manifested his satisfaction that the Seminar had reflected on an exhortation he had made to German Bishops on their ad limina visit: “Approach the movements with great love!” (November 18, 2006), and affirmed: “I could almost say that I have nothing more to add! Charity is the distinguishing characteristic of the Good Shepherd: that of authority and efficacy in exercising the ministry that has been confided to us. Go out to meet with much love the movements and new communities; let us make an effort to know their reality adequately, without superficial impressions or reductive judgments and this will help us to understand. It also helps us to understand that the ecclesial movements and new communities are not a problem or an extra risk that further weighs on our grave duties. No! They are a gift of the Lord, a precious resource to enrich our whole Christian community with their charisms.” The Pope asked the Bishops for “prudence and patience” and “to closely accompany the ecclesial movements and new communities, with fatherly care, in a cordial and wise manner, that they may generously place at the service of the common good, in an orderly and fruitful manner, the gifts that they can offer and that we have learned to understand and appreciate: the missionary impulse, the efficaciously planned Christian formation, the testimony of fidelity and obedience to the Church, the sensibility to the needs of the poor, the wealth of vocations.”
In the concluding part of his address, Benedict XVI affirmed: “Whomever us called to a service of discernment and guide should not try to controll or submit charisms, but rather, beware not to stifle them (cf 1 Ts. 5:19-21), resisting the temptation of making uniform what the Holy Spirit wants to be multiform, to contribute to the building and growth of the one Body of Christ, which the Spirit himself makes firm in unity. When it is necessary to intervene in order to correct, may this correction be an expression of ‘great love’...May the Spirit of God help us to recognize and protect the marvelous works that He Himself has inspired in the Church, for the good of all mankind.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 20/5/2008; righe 56, parole 741)
