Discernment and Proper Use of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit by Charismatic Communities According to Selected Documents of the Roman Catholic Church

Paweł Samiczak

Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, Wydział Teologii
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0567-6985

Abstract

Since the Second Vatican Council and the events that followed, we have witnessed a very strong presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church. The turning point was the "outpouring of the Holy Spirit" during the common prayer with the Word of God of professors and students from the University of Duquesne in 1967. From that moment, which is referred to as the first "Baptism in the Holy Spirit," began the process of forming Renewal communities in the Catholic Church. This article will analyze various kinds of phenomena, both physical and spiritual, related to the charismatic service. The reference will be the pastoral documents issued in recent years by individual episcopal conferences as well as by church institutions committed to continuous monitoring of renewal movements. This will allow to show the possibilities of pastoral models developed by bishops of individual countries and their analysis. The starting point for the considerations will be to show the nature of charisms, define and adopt the correct term for understanding the concept of charism, and then analyze the phenomena accompanying charismatic prayer, and their theological evaluation. The last element will be an attempt to explain the controversy and problems that arise during charismatic prayer, both in theological (spiritual) and psychological aspect.

Keywords:

charisms, charismatic renewal, Holy Spirit II, II Vatican Council