The Catholic Charismatic Movement, also known as the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, began in February, 1967 when four students at Duquense University in Pittsburg, PA gathered in prayer in response to the II Vatican Council which authorized the role of "charisms" or gifts as having a viable role within the modern Catholic Church. Since their "baptism in the Holy Spirit", the movement grew to its peak in 1973 but has declined since then. The movement had 60 million participants in North America in the early 70s but has declined to 10 million. As of 2003, the movement consisted of 119 million members in 230 countries worldwide according to David Barret, head of Global Evangelization Movement in Richmond, VA. Although the Catholic Charismatic Movement has vocal opposition among the ordained of the Catholic Church, most Catholic bishops accept it, allowing some aspect of the movement to function within their Dioceses. The movement seeks to reintroduce into the modern Catholic Church the operation of supernatural gifts claimed to be common to the first century Christian Church.
Some supporters within this movement see the movement based on the belief that certain charisms (a greek word for gifts) such as the ability to speak in tongues and to heal (which all Christians believe existed in some way in the early church as described in the Bible) still should exist and be practiced today.
The movement was given a major endorsement by Cardinal Suenens, a leading liberal cardinal in the Catholic church.
In the United States, the decline of church attendance among Catholics and the rise in popularity of the charismaticmovement have caused bishops to take special attention and care to this community, which might be the major constituent in many of their parishes.
The CharismaticMovement is an expression used to refer to a movement within historic churches that began in the 1950s.
Charismatics who have embraced this understanding of "other tongues" believe that it best harmonizes the biblical witness, that it retains the spirituality of tongues, and that it accords with the empirical fact that there are no concrete data (for example, from the study of recordings of tongues) of an unknown language being spoken.
By definition the charismaticmovement is concerned with charismata, the Greek term for "gifts of grace." Everywhere throughout the charismaticmovement there is the claim that all the charismata, or charisms, mentioned in Scripture are, or should be, operational in the Christian community.
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