Infoletter Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Sweden, August 2023
by Bengt Malmgren
Called, Transformed and Sent. Paul VI Hall - Rome Nov 2-4 2023
CHARIS invites the entire Charismatic Renewal to this event. - A special opportunity to be formed in spirit and truth with the most prominent speakers and preachers in the online course [CHARIS INTEGRAL FORMATION PROGRAM] which is followed by thousands of people around the globe. It covers themes from charismatic spirituality as well as those that focus on the Church. The course has been recommended by Pope Francis who will also participate on this occasion together with Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M.Cap. and others. [Read more here].
Father Dominic Valanmanal visited Catholic Cathedral
F Dominic is a Catholic priest from India blessed with many charisms and is known for his liberation and healing ministry. He has been to Sweden several times since 2012 invited by Bishop Anders Arborelius. F Dominic belongs to the Syro-Malabar Church, a Catholic Eastern Church that has also been established in the Catholic Diocese of Stockholm since 2019 because there are many immigrants belonging to that tradition. The rector of the new Syro-Malabar Catholic Mission in Sweden is F. Benoy Thottiyil Jose MST.
Recently he again visited Stockholm and f. Benoy and co-workers arranged for f Dominic to receive people for personal prayer for a few days, and the visit ended with a mass in the Cathedral on the evening of August 22. Several priests concelebrated, among them f Benoy and the diocesan Vicar General P. Pascal René Lung OP.
After Mass, there was sacramental worship and finally an opportunity for everyone to come forward for personal intercession. The church was packed and many came forward for prayer. [More about f Dominic and previous visits to Sweden here].
CHARIS Europe meeting Sept 23
As previously reported, since 2019 [CHARIS exists as a single service for all the different expressions of charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church].
CHARIS exists at the European continental level as CCSC-E (Charis Continal Service of Communion-Europe) and with an eight-person coordination team. CCSC-E consists of all national services of communion (CNSC) in the different countries. Many countries have already formed them, but not yet the Nordic countries. The idea is not to create a service of communion for each Nordic country, but a common one for the Nordic countries covered by the Nordic Bishops Conference. Preparatory work has been initiated and Ludwig Gelot from the parish in Järfälla has been appointed as coordinator for this work.
According to the CHARIS statutes, all groups and activities that understand themselves as participating in the charismatic renewal must be given a place in the CNSC. For Sweden's part, we think it is natural that all leaders of prayer groups and charismatic communities we have on our mailing list are included, and we assume that you want to participate unless you announce otherwise. We are also looking for young people and young adults who want to get particularly involved with the young generation.
On Saturday 23 September, an internet-based meeting will be held with CCSC Europe. Even though we in Sweden and the Nordic countries have not yet consolidated a CNSC, Ludwig Gelot is invited to participate as a contact person.
[More about CHARIS Europe and the coordinationteam here]. More about the task and the role of this team and the whole worldwide structure: see the [CHARIS-statutes].
Life in the Spirit Seminars
For those who want to get started with Life in the Spirit seminars, there is a participant booklet in Swedish to order from Bengt Malmgren. As I previously wrote, I am also in the process of collaborating with the prayer group Siloa in Malmö to compile a leaders team-manual in Swedish based on the earlier English-language manual from the United States that was introduced in the 1970s.
/Bengt Malmgren