The “movements” in the Church

The “movements” are organisations which have emerged since Vatican II, mainly of lay people, inspired by a founder and with a method to lead people to a dynamic Christian life. Patrick Duffy explains.

A dynamic reality
One dynamic reality in today’s Church is the vibrancy of what are called “the movements”.  What stands out about them is that they unaffected by any of the cynicism or boredom about belonging to the Catholic Church that can affect ordinary pew Catholics. The dynamic of the movements seems to come from a combination of 3 factors:

1. They are primarily groups of lay people.
2. They get their dynamism from the charism of a founder, someone whose faith interacting with their experience of a local situation moved them to do things differently from the norm.
3. Their energy leads them to evangelise and they have a method, an itinerary, that guides them and moves them on their way – both in relation to how they live their own lives and in how they communicate the Christian message to others.

A resource for evangelisation
The movements have become an enormous resource for evangelisation.  They tend to think of themselves as evangelical Catholics.  Three words come to mind to describe how this resource can adequately be estimated and valued for what it is really worth: they are knowledgeable, articulate and committed.

Knowledgeable
This knowledge is generally not academic, but got generally from word-of-mouth encounter with an apostle who got hold of them and imparted the core of the Christian message – the kerygma: “Jesus is risen”, “This is liberation”, “The Spirit was poured out” – there are many different formulations, but what characterises them is that they are not just a formulary of words, but they are existential; the person is fused.  You get the feeling: this person really has had the experience and they are for real.  Sometimes this also unfolds in an existential knowledge of the Scriptures as mode of nourishment for life, but it can also be the Eucharist or the Rosary, especially now that it has been enriched with the luminous mysteries, which give an expanded sense of Jesus’ life as liberation. There is nothing new-agey or vague about these people; they are focused.

Articulate
But what these people have is a language and a facility to talk about something that is bubbling inside them.  They seem at ease with discerning diverse spirits, separating out the good from the bad.  They are able to describe their spiritual experiences in concrete ways that are engaging and make you want to hear more about what they are doing, where they going and what their plans are.  Much of this facility comes from a familiarity with the Scriptures or often from familiarity with “the way”, “the itinerary”, or the method of the founder of the movement. They are able to talk coherently about the faith that is in them and to present it coherently and unashamedly to anyone they meet.

Committed
The people of the movements do not come after you to “hound” you in the street.  They have their faults and blind spots of their own.  But there is a solid programme of life and values that they are clearly committed to.  And the wonderful thing is that they see this not as a burden, but as a beacon lighting up the way for them.  They talk of their way as a freedom which gives energy to their life. And you can see it on them.  They have a transparency, a tranlucency.  You have a sense that there is something else that is not explained just by the person themselves.  They are like an ikon that beckons you to a transcendent reality beyond.

Who are these movements? 
Pope John Paul II called together a gathering of “Movements People” to Rome at Pentecost 1998.  Four representatives spoke: Chiara Lubich, founder of Focolare; Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arche; Andrea Riccardi, founder of the St Egidio Community and Mgr Luigi Giussani, founder of Communion and Liberation.  The last mentioned has since died. At Pentecost 2006 Pope Benedict XVI invited them and about 400,000 attended Vespers in St Peter’s Square on the Eve of Pentecost.

Two things he impressed on them:
1. Yes, you have the Spirit and the charisms; and
2. Yes, we want you to keep an eye on the unity of the Church.

More prominent
The following are the more prominent of the movements.

• Alpha Ireland – a renewal movement for the unchurched and those who have lapsed – started in the Church of the Trinity (Anglican), Brompton and spread worldwide.Paddy Monaghan is the present leader in Ireland and has a good backing team;
• Charismatic Renewal – dating from the late sixties, and often described as “Pentecostal Catholics”;
• Communion and Liberation – professional people mostly with an intellectual and slightly Italian flavour, founded by Mgr Luigi Giussani;
• Focolare Movement – founded by Chiara Lubich, promoter of collaboration – a centre at Curryhills, Prosperous, Co Kildare;
• L’Arche Group of Communities – inspired by Jean Vanier – a centre in Kilkenny;
• Neo-Catechumenal Way – founded by Kiko Arguello and Carmen Hernandez in Spain – in dynamic creativity with the institutional Church, but not seen much in Ireland;
• Parish Cells Movement – like the Basic Christian Communities – Fr Michael Hurley, PP Leixlip – linked with Alpha;
• Sant’Egidio Community – founded by Andrea Riccardi  promote international peace and service to the poor – have a centre at St Paul’s Church, Arran Quay, Dublin;
• Youth 2000 and Pure-in-Heart Group – for the twenty-somethings, associated with World Youth Day – Seán Ascough, Clarendon Street, Dublin.

A short profile of each is presented in a following article.
 

Tags: Theology