QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. What is CHARIS? CHARIS is a new body of international service for all the expressions of the current of grace that the Charismatic Renewal is. CHARIS is not an association of the faithful or a federation of associations. It is a service offered to all the existing charismatic realities.
2. What does CHARIS mean? CHARIS is the acronym for Catholic Charismatic Renewal International Service. The word charis is Greek, and means “grace”. The word “charism” comes from it.
3. How was CHARIS born? CHARIS was born from the will of the Holy Father that the Church have a new single service that benefits all the expressions of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
4. What does it mean when we say that CHARIS has public juridical personality? Public juridical personality means that CHARIS is erected by the Holy See through the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, on the initiative of these ecclesiastical authorities, and that CHARIS acts in the name of the Church in serving all the expressions of Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
5. Does it mean that the Charismatic Renewal acquires a public juridical figure? No, it does not affect the legal or canonical status of the different expressions of the CCR, therefore they do not change their status.
6. Are all the expressions of the Charismatic Renewal required to accept this new Service? No, CHARIS is a service body, not a governance body.
7. How will things move forward? In December 2018, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life will erect CHARIS and will approve its statutes, that will come into effect on June 9th 2019, Solemnity of Pentecost. Until then, Catholic Fraternity and ICCRS will continue to exist and operate as normal.
8. What happens with communities of the Catholic Fraternity from June 9th, 2019 and to all programmed services for 2019-2020? The Communities of the Catholic Fraternity will continue to be linked to their local Bishop. They will be represented in CHARIS structures and will be able to become networks of communities. The services already programmed for 2019-2020 will be respected and organized by CHARIS.
9. What happens to ICCRS/CF office after 2019-2020 and what happens to the services programmed by ICCRS for 2019-2020? ICCRS/CF office will carry on working in Palazzo San Calisto as CHARIS office, from June 9th, 2019. The services programmed by ICCRS will be respected and organized by CHARIS.
10. What do the National Service Committees need to do to adapt to CHARIS and when? National Service Committees need to include all the different charismatic expressions in each country in a National Service of Communion. Equally, all charismatic expressions in each country should start, from now on, organizing meetings among themselves to foster communion. It is hoped that things will be established or moving in this direction by Pentecost 2019.
If you have any further questions or need any help we can be contacted at: info@charis.international
July 3, 2019
The National Service Committee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (NSC) announces that their longtime Executive Director, Walter Matthews, will retire as of December 31, 2020. Walter has faithfully served the NSC and the Renewal in the US for over 35 years since May, 1984, and as Executive Director since January, 1993. Through his devoted leadership, the NSC is well positioned to embrace the expanded role for the Renewal that the Catholic Church is now requesting.
The NSC is excited about our expanded role in this “new season” for the Renewal with the establishment of CHARIS (Catholic Charismatic Renewal International Service) under the oversight of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. We are working with the other Leadership Groups in the US to form a National Service of Communion (NSoC), as called for by the CHARIS Statutes, whereby the NSC will support the Renewal in an expanded capacity.
As the NSC prepares for this period of transition, the Service Committee has entered a period of sustained prayer and discernment. We strongly believe that the Holy Spirit will continue to lead us in this time of transition and we are seeking to be docile to the Spirit’s guidance. As a first step, we are beginning a search for an Administrator whom we hope to hire by year end to work alongside the Executive Director for a year until his retirement. We will continue to evaluate a replacement for Walter.
As we have been communicating over the past year, we believe that the Service Committee’s Strategic Plan is highly aligned with the CHARIS Objectives. We are seeking to fill this new position of Administrator with a person who shares our vision as we move forward as “boots on the ground” in continuing to implement our Plan and work collaboratively in this new CHARIS season to bring baptism in the Holy Spirit to the whole Church.
In his message to CHARIS Conference just prior to Pentecost a few weeks ago, Pope Francis said, “As I told you at the Circus Maximus [in 2017 at the 50th Jubilee celebration], what is new can be destabilizing. In the beginning, there is a sense of uncertainty about the changes that newness brings. …Our God is the God of newness. The new things of God are always a blessing because they flow from his loving heart….It is the Lord who says: ‘I make all things new.’”
The bottom line in this CHARIS moment and when Walter has announced his retirement is that the NSC is not going away. Exactly the opposite is true. We will continue to work in unity with others to foster the grace of baptism in the Holy Spirit in the whole Church, as Pope Francis has commissioned us to do. We will continue to do what we do now, but at an intensified level being open to the newness that the Lord brings.
We ask for your prayer as both Walter and the NSC begin this transition—and for our search for an Administrator who will passionately serve the NSC in implementing our Plan and fulfilling our CHARIS commission. Come, Holy Spirit!