CHARISMATIC CATECHETICS
It is interesting to see how some writers have continued to identify the "Charismatic Renewal" as "one of the most dynamic movements in the Church in this century." They have lauded the movement's "catechetical potential for the whole Church" and have insisted on its fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church. However, even proponents of this "new Pentecost" in the Church have admitted that such charismatic groups "all over the country (are) beginning to form almost a superstructure within the Church" (M. Elaine Dilhunt in Liquorian, February 1980).
This same observer adds:
"There are groups around the country who are going into deeply committed 'covenant communities.' They are forming little churches in the Church... There are very many weak, stumbling people who want to be lead around with no responsibility. We see people latch onto these groups and lose their total identity ... We are seeing some people come out of these groups very damaged psychologically and spiritually."
This last observation appears to be true not only of some of the laity but also of some of the priests and religious who have gotten involved in Charismatic Renewal. The recent defection from the priesthood of Fr. Francis MacNutt, O.P. is a case in point. The Dominican priest was in fact one of the earliest and most "dynamic" figures of the Charismatic Movement — one of its major leaders.
He had, moreover, developed a national and international reputation for "faith healing." He had helped found over 200 charismatic prayer groups in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and had visited prayer groups in the Buffalo Diocese. As the star speaker at the 1977 National Congress on Evangelization he revealed "the burden" of his heart — namely, to tell the Catholic Church about its real tradition: to preach and heal as Jesus did. On February 9 he married Florida clinical psychologist Judith Sewall, sending a shock-wave through the entire Charismatic Movement as well as focusing renewed attention on the Charismatic Movement's' claim to "transform static Catholics into dynamic Catholics." It is, of course, known that many other "charismatics" have similarly left the Catholic Church.
A serious matter is the false doctrine concerning the Church emanating from "Charismatic Renewal" circles. Take, for example, the following remarks of Fr. John Quigley, O.F.M., as found on a tape disseminated for the benefit of Catholics in the Buffalo area:
"One of the things that happened at the Vatican Council that I dont think most people have understood is that the Catholic Community stood up and defined itself as being part of the Church of Christ — that the Church or the Body of Christ is this big, let's say — and they said that the Catholic part of that Body is at the center — where you'll find all the teaching; you'll find everything within the fulness of Christ's body found within the Catholic Community. But the Catholic Church is not THE Church — the whole Church and nothing but the Church. The Church of Jesus Christ is much bigger than the Catholic Community. We believe the Catholic Community is at the center of the Church, and that there are many other Christians in good standing and in good fellowship who are all part of the Body of Christ — even though we differ on certain issues with them — that the Church is much larger than the Catholic Church. O.K.?"
Of course, all the above is not O.K. Such "charismatic" teaching distorts badly the ecclesiological doctrine of the Second Vatican Council. Though, assuredly, certain elements of the Church may exist outside the visible confines of the true Church of Jesus Christ, there is no Church superior or bigger than the one and unique Catholic Church built on the Rock of Peter. Vatican II's Decree on the Catholic Eastern Churches specifically notes, moreover:
"The Holy, Catholic Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ, is made up of the faithful who are organically united in the Holy Spirit by the same faith, the same sacraments and the same government."
When "charismatics" who pretend to supernatural gifts of speaking in tongues, prophecy, and healing, engage in promoting heretical doctrine concerning the nature of the Church, it is hardly surprising they and their gullible followers will sooner or later be tempted to abandon the Catholic Church.
