Charismatic Movement a gift to the whole Church

Vatican City, 10 August 2013:During World Youth Day celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, July 23-28, many worshippers in the crowds could be seen swaying from side to side, arms raised in the air, wearing rapt or joyous expressions on their faces. Such scenes, along with on-stage appearances by celebrities such as Father Marcelo Rossi, a mega-church pastor whose records and movies regularly top the charts in his native Brazil, testified to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal's strong influence on the church in Latin America today.

As the church continues to lose members in the region with the world's largest Catholic population, the charismatic movement stands out as a source of hope, not only for fending off the formidable competition of Pentecostal Protestantism but for raising morale among the faithful as a whole. Though not even half a century old, the movement claims that at least 120 million Catholics in 238 countries have been "baptized in the Holy Spirit," according to a 2012 document published by International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services. The movement, which started in the United States, reports fast growth in Asia and Africa. But the world's largest concentration of charismatics today is in Latin America, where 16 percent of Catholics identify themselves as participants.Source: CNS