Today’s Catholics have been led to believe the Charismatic Renewal is a movement of the Holy Spirit. They failed to grasp that that the movement is nothing more than catholicized Pentecostalism. There are Catholics who are unaware of Pentecostal history or that the movement was started by heretical sects. Or they may have heard about Azusa Street or the so called Pentecostal contribution, but after a while the information gets normalized, particularly when time after time the movement is endorsed by the Catholic clergy. And even though these same people would be scandalized by the goings on at Protestant Pentecostal services, they would not make the connection between Protestant Pentecostals and Catholic charismatics.
But Protestant Pentecostalism is where the Catholic Charismatic Renewal got its jump start. Even though, the movement has been catholicized and Catholic charismatics maintain some of their Catholic practices, (going to Mass and Eucharistic Adorations, etc) they mix it with distinctive Pentecostal style of worship. Worship styles of course are based on theology, so the differences go far deeper than mere posture, prayer and practice. And even though Catholic charismatics are less outrageous then their Protestant counterparts, charismatic Catholics have still greater affinity with Pentecostals than with other Catholics. The outlandish Pentecostal practices may not be the norm in Catholic circles, but they do go on. It might not be perceptible to outsiders, but people in the movement are quite familiar with this.
The Catholic Charismatic Movement began as a weekend experiment (emulating the Protestant Pentecostal experience) in 1967 by a handful of students and theology professors at the Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Forty years later; the Pentecostal movement has been revamped, catholicized and given a new title. By now the movement has firmly implanted itself into the Catholic Church and only major housecleaning could remove it. It will not burn itself out; far too many Catholics have been seduced by its alien theology. So much so, that Catholicism barely exists in the psyche of our Catholic youth of today. Even in its mildest forms, charismatism never strays too far from its murky beginnings; the outlandish behaviour, the superstition and the bad theology are all inherent components of it. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is not all that different from its Pentecostal daddy; as no apple falls far from its tree.
Since the Protestant Pentecostal experience rests on personal insight as final authority; individual prophecies, individual messages from God, individual revelations, and individual and subjective interpretations all but replaced the traditional guidance the Church has provided for two millennia. The Pentecostal Trojan horse has been among us for four decades now; snaring clergy and laity; actively working to undermine the Catholic Church.
