The 1975 International Congress on the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church will be held in Rome from May 16 to 19, it was announced last week at Ann Arbor, Michigan, headquarters of the movement's International Communications Office.
Mr Ralph Martin, chairman of the congress, said the meeting, which would coincide with Pentecost, was expected to draw more than 10,000 charismatics from more than 50 countries.
The theme of the congress will be "Renewal and Reconciliation," which is the twin theme of the 1975 Holy Year. Among the leaders of the congress will be Cardinal Leo Suenens of Malines-Brussels, Belgium.
In a statement released by the communication office here, Cardinal Suenens said the congress will also be a "Pilgrimage to Rome during the Holy Year."
He characterised the congress as: 'Vs vivid testimony of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal's fidelity and faithfulness to the Church and its visible head, Pope Paul VI.
"A visible expression of the desire of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal to be in strumental, in its own way, for the renewal, in the power of the Spirit, of the whole Church; "A unique celebration of Pentecost, renewing in our day the Acts of the Apostles, showing the first disciples waiting for the coming of the Spirit in the Cenacle, praying together constantly with Peter and the Apostles and with Mary, the Mother of Jesus."
The charismatic renewal, a spontaneous movement which began in the Catholic Church eight years ago with a handful of university students and professors at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, now numbers more than 500,000 people in over 100 countries all over the world, according to spokesmen.
The renewal pays particular attention to personal and cornmunity renewal through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as tongues, prophesy, and healing, which were manifested in the early Church and recounted in the Acts of the Apostles.