This
article first appeared
in Catholic World
Report
The
New Movements in England
By
Dwight Longenecker
It
is often said that
English religion is
like English weather:
gray, damp and cold.
Despite producing some
of the greatest religious
heroes the English
are not known for religious
enthusiasm. Alongside
heroes like the Wesley
brothers, St.Thomas
More, Cardinal Newman,
G.K.Chesterton and
C.S.Lewis we must remember
the view of the ‘high
and dry’ Anglican who
remarked, ‘Enthusiasm,
sir, is an odious thing.’
That
same reluctance to
be enthusiastic about
religion is still evident
in Britain today, but
it is undermined in
the Catholic Church
by an encouraging growth
amongst the new ecclesial
movements. The ‘new
movements’ are grass
roots activities amongst
Catholic clergy and
lay people. They have
sprung up spontaneously
since the Second Vatican
Council in response
to various needs in
the church world wide.
In
his 1990 encyclical Redemptio
Missio Pope John
Paul was already recognising
their rapid growth.
He said then, ‘they
represent a true gift
of God both for new
evangelisation and
for missionary activity…I
recommend that they
be spread and that
they be used to give
fresh energy, especially
among young people
to the Christian life
and to evangelisation.’
To
recognise and encourage
their growth, Pope
John Paul II summoned
members of the new
movements to Rome for
Pentecost Day 1998.
On that day St Peter’s
Square was thronged
with over 350,000 representatives
of the new movements.
Among the more well-known
of the movements were
members of L’Arche,
Focolare, Communion
and Liberation, the
Neo Catechumenate,
Opus Dei, Cursillo,
Ascent and Catholic
Charismatic Renewal.
At
that celebration the
Pope said, ‘One of
the gifts of the Spirit
to our time is undoubtedly
the flourishing of
the ecclesial movements…the
new ecclesial communities
are the response, given
by the Holy Spirit
to this critical challenge
at the end of the millennium.’ In
an important booklet
about the new communities
world-renowned Newman
scholar, Fr Ian Ker
observes that the pope
uses the term ‘ecclesial
movements’ rather then
the term sometimes
used—‘lay movements.’ This
is because the new
movements illustrate
a return to a proper
model of the church
in which lay people
and clergy function
in a complementary
manner. Ker sees this
as the fruit of the
Second Vatican Council
with its fresh return
to a more Biblical
model of the Church.
He traces the history
of other ‘new movements’ down
through the ages like
the Jesuits, and sees
that the Spirit always
raises up ‘new movements’ to
put the councils of
the church into action.
The
new movements reflect
the need of the church
today by their informal
structure, their flexibility
and their active spirituality.
Furthermore, the new
movements include not
only the larger, international
groups, but thousands
of smaller apostolates,
parish communities,
prayer groups and mission
cells. In every country
around the world new
organisations and movements
are springing up—even
in England, where the
Catholic Church is
sometimes like yesterday’s
porridge—cold and hard
to stir.
At
first it wasn’t clear
why these new movements
were growing. Now,
after forty years of
growth we can see that
they are going to be
key instruments of
the Spirit in two ways.
First, as Dr Ker observes,
they are the authentic
implementation of the
Second Vatican Council.
Secondly, they are
being used by the Spirit
in the New Evangelisation
across the world. To
be useful in the New
Evangelisation it seems
that the movements
have had to grow into
some maturity and strength.
Now that they have,
their appeal is primed
and ready to surge
forward in the exciting
new work of Catholic
evangelisation in the
twenty first century.
The
New Evangelisation
is taking place across
the globe, and despite
its reputation for
a stiff upper lip,
England is taking part
as well. One of the
most successful new
movements in England
is the Catholic Charismatic
Renewal. Charismatic
renewal sprang from
the experience of Protestant
Christians in the 1950s
and 60s and quickly
spread to influence
many in the Catholic
Church. By the early
70s, In the USA, two
young Catholics who
had been involved in
the Cursillo Movement,
Ralph Martin and Steve
Clark, quickly realised
that something exciting
was happening in the
Catholic Church. Life
in the Spirit seminars
were established and
before long Catholics
were experiencing a
new kind of outpouring
of the Holy Spirit
in their lives.
The
movement soon jumped
the Atlantic, Life
in the Spirit seminars
were started in England
and by 1974 a Committee
for Catholic Charismatic
Renewal was established.
For ten years an Englishman
named Charles Whitehead
was the international
director of the Office
for Catholic Charismatic
Renewal in Rome and
Charles now serves
on an international
committee that harnesses
the experiences and
skills of Charismatic
Renewal for the work
of evangelisation.
In
England the Catholic
Charismatic Renewal
has developed into
various expressions.
Diocesan Renewal groups
organize days of renewal,
conferences, retreats
and Healing Masses.
Various small communities
have grown from the
Renewal Movement in
England. The Emmaus
Family of Prayer promotes
a teaching ministry
with tapes, retreats
and missions. House
of the Open Door Community organise
a home for alcoholics,
runs youth retreats
and training sessions,
while The Catholic
Bible School and Bible
Alive Publishing promote
Bible study and Biblical
devotion amongst Catholics. The
Sion Community, The
Pilgrims Community and The
Catholic Evangelisation
Service are key
players in organising
and supporting Evangelisation
in England today. They
lead parish missions,
go into schools, run
training schools for
evangelisation and
enable young people
to spend some time
in community. The Catholic
Evangelisation Service publishes
leaflets and has produced
a series of videos
called CaFE—(Catholic
Faith Exploration)
to be used in small
groups in parishes.
Within just one year
thousands of parishes
have taken up this
new resource, and it
has spread to Australian
and the USA.
Catholic
Charismatic Renewal
has grown in England,
but England has also
been the fertile ground
for the birth of two
important new youth
movements. The Faith movement
is a Catholic intellectual
movement for students.
Based on the teachings
of an English priest,
Fr. Edward Holloway,
the group fosters an
intellectually credible
approach to Catholic
faith and spirituality.
In the mid- 70s Fr
Holloway wrote Catholicism:
A New Synthesis which
attempted to integrate
a scientific view of
creation with orthodoxy
Catholicism. Holloway
and his follower, a
priest and chemistry
teacher named Fr Roger
Nesbitt organised weekends
for young people to
discuss their faith
in an intellectual
setting. The meetings
have grown so there
are now about 200 young
Catholic intellectuals
who meet every summer
for Faith Summer
Sessions. The programme
includes daily mass,
Morning and Night prayer,
Exposition of the Blessed
Sacrament, the sacrament
of reconciliation as
well as formal and
informal discussions
and intellectual addresses.
In
addition The Faith
Movement organises
weekly faith forums
around the country,
Youth Days for teenagers,
retreats and an annual
symposium. They publish
a monthly magazine
called Faith, and
are devoted to keeping
Fr Holloway’s writings
in print. While the
movement is not numerically
very strong, its intellectual
premise means that
those who are influenced
by the movement often
move into prominent
positions within the
church and society.
The Faith movement
therefore influences
a Catholic culture
more significantly
than its numbers might
indicate.
Youth
2000 or Y2K is another
youth movement that
has sprung from the
English Catholic experience. Youth
2000 is a spiritual
initiative of young
people who work in
co-operation with the
clergy and older people
to lead other young
people into the infinite
mystery of the unique
love of God for each
person. Through an
experience of the Person
of Jesus present in
the Blessed Sacrament
they are awakened to
the individual plan
that God has for each
one of them to live
as his children.
Youth
2000 was begun through
the vision of a young
Englishman named Ernest
Williams, who attended
the World Youth Day
in Compostella in 1989.
He heard Pope John
Paul II calling on
the young people to ‘become
shining heralds of
the re-evangelisation
and generous architects
of a new civilisation
of love and truth.’ While
praying before the
Blessed Sacrament Ernest
was given a picture
of a chain of young
people in adoration
around the entire world.
At that time the Decade
of Evangelisation that
was just starting in
England, and Ernest
felt that this chain
of young people would
be in place by the
end of the decade.
Ernest felt that young
people would be given
new hope if they could
only have a fresh experience
of the reality of Jesus
Christ within the Blessed
Sacrament.
The
first youth 2000 Festival
of Prayer was launched
at Medgugorje the next
year. It was an immediate
success. For one week
7000 young people gathered
from 24 countries to
celebrate Mass, listen
to the Word of God,
receive his forgiveness
in the Sacrament of
Reconciliation pray
together and meet Jesus
through adoration before
the Blessed Sacrament.
Through this successful
festival the English
organisers were inspired
to begin the work that
would lead to the now
well established Youth
2000.
The
hallmark of Youth 2000
retreats is to communicate
the essential doctrines
of the Catholic faith
to young people between
the ages of 15 and
35. The retreats teach
young people that Jesus
loves them with a very
unique love, and that
he desires them to
respond generously. The
structure of a youth
2000 retreat is based
on the traditional
40 hours of devotion
to the Blessed Sacrament.
There is lively praise
and enthusiastic participation.
This is enriched with
periods of contemplative
prayer and meditative
music. The retreat
begins on a Friday
evening and concludes
on Sunday afternoon.
During the entire retreat
the Blessed Sacrament
is exposed and venerated.
This perpetual adoration
is one of the hallmarks
of a Youth 2000 retreat.
Youth
2000 operates a series
of smaller retreats
throughout the year
in England, but in
the summer their great
annual conference takes
place at the ancient
Marian shrine of Walsingham.
Each year nearly 2000
young people gather
for Bible teaching,
perpetual adoration,
confession and the
Eucharist. In this
way, the ancient shrine—destroyed
by Henry VII, but revived
in the early part of
the twentieth century—is
enlivened and re-invigorated
for the new millennium.
The young people are
simply invited to come
and make whatever donation
they can manage. The
organisers step out
in faith. Each year
the Walsingham retreat
event costs nearly £100,000.00
to stage each year,
and every year the
costs have been met
in full simply by asking
for donations.
Youth
2000 began to move
into evangelisation
soon after its foundation.
Through their auspices
two young men—Nial
Slattery, and converted
gangster John Pridmore—toured
Britain by car conducting
parish missions and
school retreats. During
one year they spoke
to over 75,000 young
people and helped stage
10 retreats. During
the Holy Year of 2000
the movement organised
retreats in all of
the 22 Dioceses in
England. During the
year large numbers
of requests came in
for Youth2000 to organise
school missions. A
Mission Team was set
up to respond to the
requests and young
Catholics visited schools
up and down the land
to testify to their
faith and speak on
subjects such as chastity,
drug abuse and morality.
As a result a new Youth
2000 school for Evangelisation
has been set up and
continues to grow in
support and popularity.
Youth 2000 has now
spread worldwide. There
are Y2K groups in Scotland,
Ireland, Germany and
the USA. In 1994 the
International Council
of Youth 2000 was established
and in the USA over
300 Youth 2000 retreats
have been held with
over 100,000 young
people in attendance.
In Germany Jugend 2000
has taken over 5000
young people to World
Youth Days and in Ireland
two national retreats
attract over 500 young
people, there is a
Mission team and a
school team already
working with young
people across Ireland.
Once
an old Russian Orthodox
priest was being mocked
by a communist guard.
The guard pointed to
the priest’s nearly
empty church. Only
a handful of old women
knelt there in prayer. ‘Your
religion is nearly
dead.’ Said the guard, ‘What
will you do when those
old women die?’ The
priest shrugged his
shoulders, ‘Then there
will be more old women.’ The
same lesson can be
applied to the young.
There will always be
young people, and they
will always be looking
for faith. Cynicism
and atheism are the
religion of jaded grown-ups.
The young will always
have an idealistic
heart. The young will
always be looking for
truths to live by.
The young will always
want to live out their
faith in a vital and
extreme way. The young
will always have a
heart fervent for the
faith. They may do
wrong. They may be
mixed up. They may
rebel against their
elders, but usually
they are not rebelling
against the elders
who have kept the ideals
and lived out their
faith. They are rebelling
against religious hypocrites,
failures and adults
who have become cynical
and ruthless.
Catholic
Charismatic Renewal,
Faith, and Youth 2000
are movements fired
by youthful zeal and
Christian idealism.
The members of these
movements, like those
involved in all the
new movements, are
on fire with a love
for Jesus Christ and
the Catholic Church.
John Paul II believes
they hold a key to
the future of the Church.
Even now the wildfire
of the New Evangelisation
is burning at their
feet.
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