Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Latin America

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is a recent movement in the Catholic Church to re-emphasize the charisms of the Holy Spirit in lay people's everyday lives

History

The majority of Latin Americans are Catholics. About 84% of the people would say that they were raised Catholic, though only 69% of the population are Catholic today. The 15% decline is mostly due to the spread of Pentecostalism in Latin America.[1] Like Pentecostalism, the Charismatic Catholic Renewal began in the United States. This lay movement began in the 1960s after inspiration of people converting to Pentecostalism and other Protestant denominations. This renewal is to re-emphasize the charisms of the Holy Spirit found in 1 Corinthians in the New Testament of the Bible. Today there are 73 million Catholic Charismatics in Latin America.[2]

Countries[3]

The four main pillars of the renewal in Latin America are Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic.

Country Catholic Charismatics (in millions)
Brazil 33.7
Colombia 11.3
Mexico 9.2
Argentina 4.7
Venezuela 3.1
Peru 2.4
Chile 1.6
Ecuador 1.2
Bolivia 0.881
Guatemala 0.864
Haiti 0.782
Dominican Republic 0.752
Puerto Rico 0.522
Honduras 0.503
El Salvador 0.400
Cuba 0.349
Nicaragua 0.216
Uruguay 0.208
Panama 0.198
Costa Rica 0.183
Paraguay 0.099

Brazil

Brazil's Catholic Charismatic Renewal began in the 1960s when Jesuit priests Edward Dougherty and Harold Rahm departed the United States for Brazil. In the early 1970s, while Rahm was calling on the Holy Spirit for the gift of healing people of addictions and other sorts of things, Edward Dougherty was holding retreats. These retreats were called "Experience of Holy Spirit" or "Experience of Prayer." These charismatic retreats emphasized the Holy Spirit. The retreats were then handed over to the lay people of the Catholic Church. In 1979, Dougtery founded Associacao de Señor Jesus (Association of the Lord Jesus) to produce mass media similar to the Pentecostal's. 70,000 member contributors helped fund it. By the 1990s, the movement became popular for university students.

Covenant communities had a huge impact on the spread of Pentecostalism in Brazil. covenant communities were established for people drawn to the movement in strong ways. They were for living in structure with other charismatics looking for encouragement, spiritual direction, and guidance in how to live out their new lives. In 1998 there were about 50 in Brazil. By 2008 that number increased to 300. One of the more popular ones is the New Song community. They provide a TV and radio station for the movement.

Brazil's Charismatic Catholic Mega Church is Cachoeira Paulista. It is the largest Catholic Church in Latin American. Located between Rio and São Paulo in the Paraiba Valley, this church can hold 100,000 people and has 60,000 people coming weekly.

Brazil's approach to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is to embrace popular culture.

Mexico

Due to 88% of the country of Mexico being Catholic, it was not too difficult for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal to gain support by the bishops. Lay people soon followed. The First Latin American Charismatic Conference was held in 1973. Prior to this movement in Mexico, the Renovation Movement of Catholic Charismatics in the Holy Spirit had already been spreading. Like Brazil, Mexico had multiple covenant communities which began appearing around 1980. By 2007, there were 27 covenant communities. The main focus on this movement in Brazil is evangelization.

Colombia

In Colombia, the Catholic Charismatic Movement began in Minuto de Dios as an effort by activist priests in the early 1970s. These people are the lowest social class and priests let them know they are not forgotten. Colombia's spread is influenced by the incorporation of social justice. This confronts the Pentecostal growth in the country.

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is regarded as one of the most intensively Charismatic Catholic countries. The movement was accepted by lay people and church hierarchy alike with ease.

References

  1. ↑ "Religion in Latin America." Pew Research Centers Religion Public Life Project RSS. November 12, 2014. Accessed May 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ Cleary, Edward L. (2011). The Rise of Charismatic Catholicism in Latin America. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida. p. 26.
  3. ↑ Cleary, Edward L. (2011). The Rise of Charismatic Catholicism in Latin America. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.
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