The Charismatics' Role in Ecumenism

In June of 1992, Christianity Today had an article entitled Catholics on the Pentecostal Trail. The introduction to the article was Catholic Charismatics Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Their beginnings They Continue to Search for a Sense of Direction. 1992 marked the 25th anniversary of Roman Catholicism's involvement in a serious and semi-official way in the Charismatic movement. So here you have the Roman Catholics meeting with the Pentecostals and the major part of the evening is spent in a discussion and debate over whether the Roman Catholics had to speak in tongues to have the Holy Spirit. Now there are much more basic and foundational theological issues dividing Evangelical Charismatics and Roman Catholics, but the time was spent on this discussion. Now anytime you join together on the basis of experience, rather than biblical doctrine and theology, you have opened the door so broad that anyone can storm through.