{"id":2192,"date":"2026-09-01T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vaticanfiles.org\/?p=2192"},"modified":"2026-08-24T21:35:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T19:35:40","slug":"vf260","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vaticanfiles.org\/it\/2026\/09\/vf260\/","title":{"rendered":"260. Catholic and Evangelical Charismatics United?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Building a bridge between institutional Roman Catholicism and the Pentecostal and Evangelical churches. This is the mission of the Roman Catholic charismatic movement as described in Filippo D\u2019Alessandro\u2019s book, God\u2019s Dream: Christian Unity in the Power of the Spirit (Italian edition: Il sogno di Dio. L\u2019unit\u00e0 dei cristiani nella potenza dello Spirito<\/em><\/a>, Rimini: Edizioni Rinnovamento nello Spirito Santo, 2026).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author speaks on this subject with authority, as he serves as one of the regional directors of the Rinnovamento nello Spirito Santo (\u201cRenewal in the Holy Spirit,\u201d i.e., the Italian Roman Catholic Charismatic movement) and as one of its national delegates for Christian unity. The book brings together various contributions, all aimed at illustrating the purpose of charismatic ecumenism: in the words of Pope Francis during a meeting with Pentecostal pastors in 2020, it is a matter of \u201ccreating communion and collaboration among the various charismatic communities\u201d (35). Or, in the author\u2019s own words, \u201cto create connections between our Pentecostal brothers and sisters and the priests and bishops in the region\u201d and thus to serve as \u201ca link\u201d (200).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book does not offer a history of the Roman Catholic charismatic movement that began in 1967, but it does contain several significant stories intertwined with the author\u2019s biography, such as Pope Francis\u2019s meetings with Italian and international Pentecostal leaders. The Pentecostal movement as a whole is viewed as a \u201ccurrent of grace\u201d that cuts across denominational lines, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit associated with it is seen as an \u201cecumenical grace\u201d (91).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In other chapters, D\u2019Alessandro sets forth the Roman Catholic view of the charismatic experience. It is situated within the sacramental journey and is seen as an activation, a reawakening, or a \u201cthawing\u201d of the sacrament of Baptism. Therefore, in the Roman Catholic understanding, it in no way calls into question the hierarchical and sacramental structure of the Roman Catholic Church, nor the Marian dogmas and the devotions associated with them. So to speak, it integrates the charismatic experience into Roman Catholic life by adding something extra but taking nothing away.
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D\u2019Alessandro is an admirer of Pope Francis and particularly praises the encyclical\u00a0Fratelli tutti<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(\u201cAll Brothers,\u201d 2020), establishing the universal brotherhood regardless of different religions, and the\u00a0Abu Dhabi Document on Human Fraternity<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(2019), signed jointly with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, where the diversity of religions is presented as the will of God. For him, ecumenical dialogue and interreligious dialogue, though distinct, go hand in hand because both express the catholicity of Roman Catholicism\u2014its longing for the unity of mankind.
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At times, his language is reminiscent of the Gospels (when, for example, he speaks of the communion of those who are \u201cborn-again,\u201d 116), but the framework of his thought is Roman Catholic because being born again for him coincides with being baptized\u2014not necessarily with being a believer in Jesus Christ. From a Roman Catholic perspective,\u00a0every baptized person is born again<\/a>\u00a0regardless of his\/her faith in Christ. But is this the case according to the Bible?
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When offering suggestions on how to organize events and meetings with Pentecostal Evangelicals, he advises avoiding devotional expressions related to Mary and the saints, references to sensitive topics such as indulgences and purgatory, as well as Marian apparitions and private revelations (204). The intention, therefore, is\u2014if not to conceal, then at least to try to downplay\u2014the specific characteristics of Roman Catholicism.
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Without wishing to question people\u2019s good faith, one cannot help but wonder whether these practices are spiritually honest. Is dialogue truly being promoted if one lacks the courage to say and do the things one believes? Furthermore, how can Evangelicals who participate in these gatherings be so naive as to think that there is authentic Evangelical spirituality if the faith of Charismatic Catholics does not abandon the non-biblical\u2014if not anti-biblical\u2014elements of its creed and practice?
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In the book\u2019s introduction, Bishop Derio Olivero, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference\u2019s Commission for Ecumenism, writes that the fear of ecumenism stems \u201cfrom a fragile or poorly understood identity\u201d (9). This is not necessarily true. In fact, the opposite is true. The more solid one\u2019s evangelical identity is (i.e., grounded in Scripture and its message), the more one recognizes that ecumenical attempts which hide identities or cloak them in charismatic language without reforming them from within do not correspond to the Lord\u00a0Jesus\u2019 prayer to the Father in John\u00a017. After praying: \u201cthey may be one,\u00a0even as we are one\u201d (v. 11), the Lord goes on to say: \u201cSanctify them\u00a0in the truth;\u00a0your word is truth\u201d (v. 17). Unity and truth go together.\u00a0When true dialogue takes place, neither hiding nor camouflage should occur.
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If a person is born again, born of the Spirit, and a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Roman Catholic baggage\u2014composed of traditions that are foreign to and contrary to Scripture\u2014must be reformed, not simply and tactically concealed. Saying this to our charismatic Catholic friends does not mean being opposed to dialogue. It means engaging in dialogue in truth, submitting all we are and do to the Word of God. Other paths to unity are shortcuts, perhaps useful for Roman Catholic ecumenism, but not for biblical unity.<\/p>\n

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