I have found widespread ignorance when it comes to the charismatic movement in the church. In 1969 Pope Paul VI publicly denounced "the illusion of a free and charismatic Christianity" which ''does not build, but demolishes," and deplored those who "have recourse to gratuitous charismatic suppositions in order to fill up the interior emptiness created by their own loss of confidence in the guidance of the Church."
Again, "Many who speak about the Church today say they are inspired by a prophetic spirit, and they appeal to the Holy Spirit as if the Divine Paraclete were at their disposal at all times. May God grant that this presumption, of elevating a personal experience into a criterion of religious doctrine, may not cause havoc!"
IT ATTACKS DIRECTLY "the very existence of the Church," leading to "extinguishing the real flame of Pentecost, disregarding the thought of Christ and of the whole of Tradition." - POPE PAUL VI, MAY 17, 1972
Could that be any clearer?
"We regard it [the charismatic movement] bluntly as one of the most dangerous trends in the Church in our time, closely allied in spirit with other disruptive and divisive movements threatening grave harm to unity and damage to countless souls." - Archbishop Dwyer of Portland, Oregon, 1974 (Archbishop Dwyer’s criticism appeared in an interview published in the National Catholic Register, July 21, 1974).
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