“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Is, 43:19-21)
Both John Paul II and The Holy Father, Benedict XVI have given blanket approval to
the new Ecclesial Movements. John Paul II stated in his message for the World
Congress of Ecclesial Movement and New Communities, "From the begining of my
Pontificate, I have given special importance to the progress of ecclesial movements...
They represent one of the most significant fruits of that springtime in the Church which
was foretold by the Second Vatican Council...Movements can thus make a valuable
contribution to the vital dynamics of one Church founded on Peter in the various local
situations...I have often had the occasion to stress that there is no conflict or
opposition in the Church between the institutional dimension and the charismatic
dimension, of which movments are a significant expression. both are co-essential
to the divine constitution of the Church founded by Jesus, because they both help to
make the mystery of Christ and his saving work present in the world."
In a book writte by then Cardinal Ratzinger with the journalist, Vittorio essori he writes:
"What sounds full of hope throughout the universal church - and this even in the midst
of the crisis that the Church is going through in the Western World - is the upsurge of
new movements that no one has planned and no one called into being, but that simply
emerge of their own accord from the inner vitality of the faith...It grows in silence.
Our task - the task of the office-holders in the Church and of theologians - is to
keep the door open to them, to prepare room for them..."
"The memory of the previous World Congress of Ecclesial Movements, held in Rome
from 26 to 29 May 1998, is still vivid in my mind and in my heart...during which my
Predecessor expressed his approval of the Ecclesial Movements and New
Communities, which he described as "signs of hope..."
From the Vatican, 22 May 2006 BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
"Today, the Ecclesial Movements and New Communities are a "luminous sign of beauty
of Christ and of the Church, his Bride. You belong to the living structure of the Church.
She thanks you for...the promotion of vocations to the ministerial priesthood and
consecrated life which you nurture among your members."
From the Vatican, 22 May 2006 BENEDICTUS PP XVI
