“May the Holy Spirit Always Be Light and Strength on Your Personal and Communal Journey”
On May 30th 2026 Pope Leo XIV addressed the leaders of Charis and several thousand members of the worldwide charismatic renewal at the Vatican Paul VI Audience Hall. Several leaders, pastors, and bishops from other Christian churches were also present. Welcoming the participants with special warmth, he recognized the charismatic renewal as a great gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church.
“Your shared journey of faith has its source in the personal experience of the Holy Spirit, which has enabled the grace of Baptism to become effective within each of you, leading you to a clear awareness of God’s love” … “God has indeed blessed your communities with so many gifts, including spiritual vitality.”
Leo repeated previous popes’ words of praise for the renewal:
“… Paul VI affirmed that nothing is more necessary for such an increasingly secularized world than the witness of this spiritual renewal, which the Holy Spirit is inspiring in the most diverse regions and communities (May 1975).
In emphasizing your characteristic focus on evangelization, John Paul II said: “It is the Spirit himself who impels you to bear witness.” He likewise remarked: “How can anyone who has tasted the goodness of Christ remain silent and inactive?… Christ is our Savior… How can we fail to evangelize? Continue to communicate this zeal for the Gospel to those around you!” (December 1991).
For his part, Benedict XVI referred to the specific contribution you make to the Church.
He said: “One of the positive elements and aspects of the Community of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is precisely their emphasis on the charisms or gifts of the Holy Spirit and their merit lies in having recalled their topicality in the Church” (October 2008).
Like Cardinal Suenens in the early days of the movement, Pope Francis frequently spoke of you as a “flood of grace,” which is “for the whole Church, not just for some” (June 2017). In summary, he outlined your path as “evangelization, spiritual ecumenism, caring for the poor and needy, and welcoming the marginalized,” and added, “all of it is based on worship! The foundation of the renewal is worshiping God!”
Leo XIV highlighted five “key aspects” of the spirituality that characterizes charismatic renewal.
1. Baptism in the Spirit. Pope Leo XIV highlighted that the path of faith of the CCR “has its source in the personal experience of the Holy Spirit, which has enabled the grace of baptism to become effective within each of you, leading you to a clear awareness of God’s love.”
“The Holy Spirit has likewise allowed you to taste the sweetness of Christ. For you, too, life has changed since that moment. God ceased to be a mere idea and became the real and ultimate expression of fatherhood. His Spirit has brought inner reconciliation, peace, and freedom from worldly attachments and the oppression of sin,” which animates one “to be witnesses and heralds of his love, bringing his consolation to people oppressed by a sense of emptiness and loneliness.”
2. Prayer of praise. It is “from this captivating experience of the Holy Spirit that a new life of prayer began, taking the form of a new capacity for spontaneous and sincere dialogue with God, and a new openness to praise, worship, and offering thanksgiving.”
“Worship and praise, which are so characteristic of your gatherings, are essential aspects of Christian prayer, and you have helped them to be rediscovered and brought them back to the forefront in recent years,” Leo noted.
3. The word of God. “The Holy Spirit inspired the revealed word of God and is also the one who keeps it ever alive and active in the Church, causing it to resonate in the hearts of believers, especially in the liturgy,” the pope continued.
So it is that “Scripture has therefore become for you a wonderful source of spiritual nourishment that enlightens and comforts. It is similarly a source of discernment for guiding your daily choices and gives substance to communal prayer, enabling you to address the Lord with words inspired by God himself.”
4. Communion. Leo XIV highlighted that “the Holy Spirit is the wellspring of communion” and recalled that Pope Leo XIII encouraged praying to the Holy Spirit for Christian unity. “You clearly appreciate the significance of this invitation, for you have seen that unity in the Church is the fruit of the Spirit,” Leo XIV emphasized.
“It is the Spirit who creates harmony among the various charisms and components of the charismatic renewal, as well as with our brothers and sisters of other Christian denominations,” Leo observed.
5. Charity. “The renewed presence of the Spirit has awakened in you a new capacity to love, inspired by divine charity itself. This love is directed toward God and toward your brothers and sisters, and inspires closeness and compassion, especially for those who are suffering,” he added. “Many works of charity for those in need, both in spirit and in body, have sprung from the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. I invite you, then, to keep alive this love for the poor, which reveals the true face of God,” he continued.
In his final exhortation, Pope Leo called upon the members of the movement to “cultivate harmony and cooperation among the communities to which you belong, taking care to never give way to the desire for self-promotion, or the pursuit of power or personal prestige.”
See the full text of Pope Leo’s address.
Top image credit: The coming of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, image by Johannes Plenio, source from unsplash.com. Permission granted to use.