Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Sweden. Newsletter April 2023

by Bengt Malmgren

Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Sweden. Newsletter April 2023  from Bengt Malmgren

In this letter: Pentecost of the movements 12th and 27th of May in Catholic Cathedral Stockholm. Report from Life in the Spirit-Seminars in Malmö. CHARIS, new contactperson in Karlstad. 

We have celebrated Easter and rejoice in the cause of our salvation - the risen Lord and look forward to Pentecost and are aware that today, just as at the first Pentecost, God wants to pour out his Holy Spirit on us.

The Holy Spirit - the source of power without which the Church would be but a sterile institution.

The Holy Spirit - who distributes his gifts of grace to everyone so that every baptized christian can become a living member of the body of Christ and participate in the life of the church under the motto of community, participation, mission that Pope Francis so strongly exhorts us to today.

In establishing CHARIS, the structure with statutes from the Vatican tasked with serving the entire charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church in its many forms, the Pope emphasized three tasks that he particularly expects from the renewal:

• Share the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" with everyone in the church.
• Serve the unity of the body of Christ
• Serve the poorest and those most in need physically and spiritually.

(Read more in newsletter January 2023)

Pentecost of the movements: Meet Bishop Anders on May 12 and celebrate the Pentecost vigil in the Cathedral on May 27 with prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

As usual, Pentecost of the Movements is organized with a Pentecost Vigil in the Catholic Cathedral, Stockholm. A working group consisting of people from CHARIS, Focolare and the Neocatechumenal walk has taken it upon itself to prepare. Since this year the bishop, Cardinal Anders Arborelius, cannot attend the Pentecost evening but it is still important that we can meet with the bishop once a year for a conversation about what the Spirit speaks to us, where we stand and what the bishop expects from us right now, so we do it this year as a two-stage rocket:

1). May 12 Meeting with the bishop in the Catholic cathedral: Kl. 17.00 mass, then meeting with the bishop and conversation in the Cathedral Hall. Light refreshments are served.

2). May 27, Pentecost evening: Pentecost Vigil with the movements in the Catholic Cathedral at 5 PM with prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pope Francis calls us to increased cooperation in the church, and that all the baptized are responsible for the new evangelization. As movements, we feel a great responsibility for this, and we hope many could attend these meetings, both for the conversation with the bishop and to celebrate together a truly festive Pentecost vigil where we ask for the gifts of the Spirit. Spread this among the groups you are responsible for, think about what you want to ask or say to the bishop, and in what way you want to contribute to the mass on Pentecost evening. We need people who read, and we would like there to be a lot of praise, maybe we, the movements together, could put together a choir that can practice together a little before the mass.

Life in the Spirit seminars have been held in S:t Mary in Rosengård's parish in Malmoe.

Irena from the charismatic prayer group Siloe, which has been active in the congregation since 2014, reports for the newsletter:

"New Life in the Spirit seminars were conducted by Siloe during the period 14/2-28/3. So far the group has been Polish-speaking. In the Fall of 2022 we decided to turn to the whole parish and conduct seminars in Swedish. Guide materials were translated from English to Swedish. The experiences are only positive and we can recommend other groups to follow our example."

/Irena Amtkil

The group used the participant booklet previously published by AKKS, translated by Lillemor Hallin and which can be ordered via Bengt Malmgren. The leadership guide that has been used earlier for the seminars is the manual published in the USA in the 1970s Life in the Spirit Seminars Team Manual. In connection with the seminar ithis spring, the Siloe group has translated the most important parts into Swedish, and the idea is that we will now collaborate to compile a Swedish compendium as a service for groups that want to conduct the seminars.

The seminars are not intended as internal for charismatic prayer groups, but as directed outward to the entire parish and people outside, it is an important part of the evangelizing work that the Charismatic Renewal can contribute with. We really want to encourage prayer groups to invest in this. Siloe is happy to stand up and share his experiences. Contact the group leader  Bozena Ziep bziep@hotmail.com .

CHARIS, new contactperson in Karlstad.

Where there are no prayer groups yet, we try to find contactpersons who can promote the renewal locally. In the last newsletter I told about new ones in Luleå and Nacka. In Karlstad, David Lukeka has now taken on the responsibility as contact person. [Prayer groups, communities and contact persons in Sweden, see list here].

CHARIS Integral Formation Program

We recommend all prayer group leaders, contact persons and other functionaries within the Charismatic Renewal to attend this two-semester internet-based training. [More information here]

/Bengt Malmgren