What’s a Charism?

One of the great blessings I cherish in my work with the Legion of Christ is that when there is something of great philosophical or theological importance that I can’t figure out — well — I can go to one of the really smart folks I work with for help.  In recent times, there has been much discussion of the Legion’s charism, which led me to ponder just how to define charism.  Frankly, I couldn’t do it.  So…I decided to ask one of those really wise folks, in this case Legionary Father John Bartunek, author, speaker and thinker.  Here is what he had to say:

St Augustine famously commented that he always thought he knew what “time” was, until someone asked him to define it.  Time is one of the basic concepts that we all understand instinctively and use constantly.  But when we try to define it precisely, it gets slippery.  In theological realms, the word “charism” is kind of like that.  Lots of Church folks use it, smoothly and frequently, but the different uses don’t fit easily into the box of a definition.

The term makes an appearance in the New Testament (e.g. 1 Cor 12), and in that context is most often defined as “a spiritual gift that enables its receiver to perform some office or function in the Church for others” (Fr John Hardon’s Catholic Dictionary).  That usage links a charism with an individual.  Yet, throughout the ages, and especially since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), theologians and Church officials have also used the term to refer to the spiritual gift given to a group, whether a religious congregation, an ecclesial movement, or some other society of believers united by a common spirit and mission within the Church.

The difficulty of this definition of charism (a spiritual gift – or gift of grace, which is a fair translation of the Greek New Testament word, “charismata” – given by God to an individual or group for building up the Church) is its vagueness.  It’s loose; it’s flexible; it leaves a lot of wriggle room.

Maybe that’s why a notable amount of consternation has been generated by the sentence in the Vatican’s May 2^nd statementabout the future of the Legionaries of Christ and the Regnum Christi Movement that touched on the charism.  The Vatican explained that one of the results of the recent Apostolic Visitation of the Legion was a recognition of

the need to redefine the charism of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ, preserving its true core, that of the “militia Christi [soldiers of Christ],” which characterizes the apostolic and missionary activity of the Church and which is not the same as efficiency at any cost…

How can a charism be “redefined”?  What does the recognized need to redefine our charism say about the current state of our Congregation and Movement?  Certainly, by affirming that the “true core” of our charism is valid and valued, the Holy Father is already fulfilling his promise that the Legionaries and members of the Movement “will not be abandoned.” Only time, however, will bring complete answers to these difficult questions, and others like them.

For the present, it may be useful to reflect on some fairly recent statements about charisms and ecclesial movements.  This can help clear the air of unreasonable expectations and entangling speculation.

The Value of New Movements

John Paul II repeatedly voiced his conviction that the new ecclesial movements were infusing a fresh wave of vitality into the Church, and that this was the work of the Holy Spirit and a sign of the Church’s unconquerable vigor:

One of the Spirit’s gifts to our time is truly the flourishing of the ecclesial movements which, from the beginning of my pontificate, I have seen and continue to see as a reason for hope for the Church and for society (Homily, Pentecost Vigil, 31 May 1996). 

He also emphasized the deep need the Church has for this kind of ecclesial renewal:

Often in today’s world, which is dominated by a secular culture that proposes models of life without God, the faith of many is greatly tested and often suffocated and put out. Therefore there is an urgent need for a strong testimony and a Christian formation that is solid and deep. What a great need there is today for mature Christian personalities who are aware of their baptismal identity, of their call and mission in the Church and in the world! What great need there is of living Christian communities! This is where the ecclesial movements and new communities appear: they are the answer which has been raised up by the Holy Spirit to this dramatic challenge at the end of the millennium. You are this providential answer! (Homily, Pentecost Vigil, 5 June 1998)

 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger shared this same appreciation for the new movements even before being elected pope.  And since his election, his comments on the providential role of the movements have echoed and deepened those of his predecessor.  In a speech on the topic, he asserted that “the Ecclesial Movements and New Communities are one of the most important innovations inspired by the Holy Spirit in the Church for the implementation of the Second Vatican Council.”  And in a recent letter to a cardinal who has been instrumental in encouraging some of these movements, Pope Benedict called them “gifts to be grateful for” and went on to remark on their essential role in the Church: “It is no longer possible to think of the life of the Church of our time without including these gifts of God within it.”

The Movements’ Secret Ingredient

Stanislaw Cardinal Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, in a speech where he explained in much greater detail why the movements have so much to contribute to the Church today (a long speech, but well worth reading in full), links that contribution to the concept of “charism”:

The “secret,” so to speak, is found in the charisms which have produced them [the movements] and which constitute their very soul. It is the charism which produces the spiritual affinity between individuals animating a community and a movement.

Notice that the cardinal doesn’t actually define the term charism.  Rather, he describes it with an analogy, calling it the “soul” of each movement and new community.  Charisms are living things, in a sense, not abstract formulas.  They are like people: we can get to know them and become familiar with them and grow to love them, even though we can’t completely define them.

Every member of a basketball team contributes to the whole, but not in a mathematical way.  Each has certain skills which suit them for a specific position, but each also has a personality, an indefinable but palpable combination of presence, mentality, and energy that builds up the whole community of players.

The charisms of the different movements and congregations are like that.  Each is specially suited to a general type of apostolate, but the charism goes beyond that; it includes a style of living out the Gospel, a unique, fruitful, and beautiful approach to following Christ.  Just as the Franciscans and the Dominicans often take on similar ministries (universities, parishes, schools…), but do so with a distinctive style, so the different ecclesial movements imbue their various works of apostolate with the spirit of their particular charism.

Three other issues frequently come up when Church leaders speak about the new movements and charisms.

Founders

First, charisms are given to the Church through the experience and work of founders, either individuals or small groups.  The role of the founder is to transmit to the first members of the movement or congregation the spirit and style of Christian discipleship given by God.  Founders light in others the fire God has kindled in them.  As John Paul II explained it:

By their nature, charisms are communicative and give rise to that “spiritual affinity between persons” (Christifideles laici, n. 24) and that friendship in Christ which is the origin of “movements.” The passage from the original charism to the movement happens through the mysterious attraction that the founder holds for all those who become involved in his spiritual experience. In this way movements officially recognized by ecclesiastical authority offer themselves as forms of self-fulfillment and as reflections of the one Church. (Message for World Congress of Ecclesial Movements, 27 May 1998)

Without a doubt, part of the redefining of the charism that the Holy See is asking of the Legion and Regnum Christi will involve trying to understand the relationship in this baffling case between the founder and the charism.  How and why did God gift the Church with the “true core” of a charism that includes such praiseworthy “enthusiasm for the faith… missionary zeal and… apostolic dynamism,” which the Holy See is eager to preserve, by means of an instrument, a founder, whose duplicity manifested a “life devoid of scruple and of genuine religious sentiment,” as the Vatican statement described it?  This will likely be a question in need of ongoing, careful, and long-lasting discernment.

Authenticity

Second, the Church has to look for ways to recognize the authenticity of new charisms.  One of the essential signs in this process is a movement’s faithfulness to the magisterium.  Pope Benedict XVI weighed in on this issue with his characteristic clarity and directness: “The authenticity of new charisms is guaranteed by their readiness to submit to the discernment of the Ecclesiastical Authority” (Address to Bishops, et alia, 17 May 2008).  God gives charisms for the sake of building up the Church, not for breaking it up.  No charism can be considered authentic, therefore, if it intrinsically or habitually inspires a movement’s members to rebel against legitimate Church authority.

Growing Pains

Third, the newness of these charisms has created growing pains.  Both the movements themselves, and the local churches in which they participate, are having to figure out how to work together, how to be like the householder in the Gospel who “brings new things out of his storehouse as well as old” (Matthew 13:53).  This has been a difficult process in recent decades. It has required mentality shifts on both sides.  Pope Benedict faced this squarely in his Letter to Cardinal Cordes:

…[T]hese movements needed to be ordered and brought within the totality; they needed to learn to recognize their limits and to become part of the communitarian reality of the Church in her proper constitution together with the Pope and the bishops. Thus they need a guide and purification to be able to reach the form of their true maturity…

Yet, in spite of this weighty challenge, the Pope has reiterated that “…[T]he Ecclesial Movements and New Communities are not an additional problem or risk that comes to top our already difficult task. No! They are a gift of the Lord, a valuable resource for enriching the entire Christian Community with their charisms” (Address to Bishops and Superiors of Ecclesial Movements, 17 May 2008).

Painful Purification

In this context, it is easier to understand the recent Vatican statement’s reference to the immediate future of the Legion and the Movement being marked by a “path of purification.” The Holy Father is interested not only in helping us perceive afresh and be faithful to the essence of our charism, but also in guiding us as we continue to discover how best that charism can serve the Church.

Purification is never painless, but when it comes from God, it always leads to improvement and growth.  Personally, I can imagine no better time to be a Legionary or Regnum Christi member.