Divine Inspiration Catholics Gather For One-On-One With The Holy Spirit

(From For the Record, October 23, 1996:) The Rev. Armand Nigro, S.J., is associated with the Inland Empire Catholic Charismatic Conference but is not the former spiritual director of the organization. A quote attributed to him in Monday’s editions of The Spokesman-Review referred to his initial reaction to charismatic worship, not his current opinion of the recent conference.

It’s not a traditional Roman Catholic Mass.

Two priests are dancing and clapping behind the altar. The deacon, at least 60 years old, is kicking and hopping so high his white robe balloons out like a parachute. A third of the congregation is speaking in tongues.

More than 300 Catholics gathered over the weekend at Gonzaga Prep to worship God in a form that is uniquely Catholic and distinctly Pentecostal.

“It sure sounded kooky to me,” said the Rev. Armand Nigro, a Jesuit priest and former spiritual director of the Inland Empire Catholic Charismatic Conference.

“But I see more and more people who are sober, whose judgment I trust, praying in this beautiful manner.”

It is called the Catholic Charismatic Renewal or the charismatic movement. It can be traced back to a retreat of college students and teachers in 1967, shortly after the reforms of Vatican II had been introduced.

The students, interested in exploring the presence of the Holy Spirit in the modern world, began speaking in tongues, healing one another and prophesying - all considered signs of the Spirit’s presence.

Since then, the movement has spread worldwide.

While prayer meetings attracted hundreds of worshipers in the 1970s, the numbers declined in the 1980s, leaving a core group to carry on the movement. Lately, more and more teenagers and 20-somethings have been attracted to the exuberant worship style and the tight community it creates.

This was the first year the annual Way of Wisdom conference included separate youth programs.

“There is a great hunger among our youth for an experience of God, a relationship with God,” said the Rev. Tom Mele, a charismatic priest serving St. Anne Parish in Medical Lake. Many participants Sunday said the traditional Catholic Mass wasn’t bringing them close enough to God.

“I was sitting in Mass one day when I realized that something was missing,” said Sue Rolando, a musician who performed at the conference. “When I started doing this, I learned how I needed to pray.”

While almost every parish has a handful of charismatics, they sometimes are considered a fringe element and often are misunderstood. Occasionally, they are called the Catholic Church’s Holy Rollers.

What charismatics do is gather for prayer meetings and worship sessions that include upbeat music, dancing and personal testimonies. Charismatics strive to establish a personal relationship with Jesus and release the power of the Holy Spirit - which they believe lives within each person who has been baptized.

When the emotion in the room is high, many of the participants begin to speak in tongues, a form of prayer that sounds like a combination of babbling and praying.

“Speaking in tongues is the most misunderstood of all the charisms (gifts of the Holy Spirit),” said Andi McGoren, a member of St. Peter’s Parish on the South Hill. “It’s just a prayer language. People can use it if they don’t know what to pray for.”

Some charismatics say they are given the power to heal as well as prophesy. They say those phenomena occur during prayer meetings and the occasional special Mass, celebrated by a charismatic priest.

Although the Catholic charismatic movement is relatively new and small, members of some Protestant denominations have been worshiping and praying in a similar manner for centuries.

In the early years, many Catholics left their denomination for Pentecostal or evangelistic churches where they felt more comfortable.

Now, the movement officially is encouraged by Pope John Paul II. Spokane Bishop William S. Skylstad presided over the closing Mass at the weekend’s conference.

Even so, many charismatics say they remain subdued during the traditional Mass.

“That’s what’s so refreshing about coming here,” said Jeanie Fletcher, of Dayton, Wash. “In our parishes, it’s such a private thing. I don’t talk about it too much because of how people might react. Here, it’s very open.”

Fletcher and her best friend, Karen Terraza, attended their first charismatic prayer meeting seven years ago because they were looking for more out of their faith.

“At first, I was very hesitant. But after a while, you just can’t help yourself - you just surrender,” Terraza said of the uninhibited worship.

While Catholics - particularly priests - often are accused of being overly intellectual about faith, charismatics thrive on raw emotion.

“Christianity has been criticized as being this dry exercise, and the charismatic movement has been criticized as being emotional, hysterical gibberish,” said Mele. “I try to bridge the gap between the two.”

Because Spirit-filled services are unpredictable and usually run long, they can scare some Catholics accustomed to the order of the liturgy.

But even those who don’t personally experience the presence of the Holy Spirit increasingly are joining the services.

“I’d like to see a touch of this in my life,” said Deborah McKinney, a member of St. Thomas More Church. “Other people in other faiths do it. I think it would round things out for us.”

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