A NOTE OF APPRECIATION
VATICAN APPOINTS CYRIL JOHN A MEMBER OF CHARIS
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) congratulates Mr Cyril John on his appointment as a member of CHARIS (Catholic Charismatic Renewal International Service) constituted on the personal initiative of the Holy Father Pope Francis. An announcement from Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life said that the Holy See was erecting a new body, CHARIS for providing a new, single, international service for the needs of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the Church. The Holy See appointed Dr Jean-Luc Moens from Belgium as the moderator of the new entity and Rev. Fr Raniero Cantalamessa OFM Cap, Papal Preacher from Italy, as its Ecclesiastical Advisor. Mr.Cyril John will represent Asia on the 18-member new worldwide body that will operate in favour of all expressions of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal for a three-year term.
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal started in the Church in 1967 as a fruit of the Second Vatican. Today it is estimated that there are more than 120 million people worldwide who will testify to a life changing experience of the Holy Spirit through their contact with the CCR. In 1990, a network of CCR international covenant communities rooted in charismatic spirituality was recognised at the Pontifical level as a private association of the faithful, under the name of ‘Catholic Fraternity of Covenant Communities and Fellowships’ with a mission to consolidate the bonds of the covenant communities to the Catholic Church and to encourage evangelization. In 1993, the Pontifical Council for the Laity granted pontifical recognition to International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services (ICCRS), representing the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, approving its statutes as an international organism of service. For many years the Catholic Fraternity and the ICCRS have been working separately.
In April 2016, Pope Francis appointed a committee to work on the new One Single Service with the accompaniment of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, Family and Life. The statutes of CHARIS have been approved ad experimentum by our Holy Father Pope Francis. CHARIS will assume its function on the Solemnity of Pentecost 2019, the day on which CHARIS‘ statutes will come into effect. On the same date, the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services and the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships will cease to exist. CHARIS will have the mandate to reach out to all expressions of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
Mr Cyril John, a native of Kuravilangad in Kerala began involvement in the movement in 1982. He has been the Chairman of the Renewal in the Archdiocese of Delhi, Chairman of Indian National Service Team, Chairman of ICCRS Sub-Committee for Asia-Oceania (ISAO) since 2006 and was Vice-President of ICCRS Council from 2007 to 2015. Mr.Cyril worked as the Joint Secretary & Chief of Protocol in Lok Sabha Secretariat of the Indian Parliament until his retirement on 30 November, 2016. He is also the author of the books, 'Spurred by the Spirit', 'Come, let us Celebrate the Holy Eucharist', ‘The Catholic Charismatic Renewal in India – An Appraisal’, ‘Pray Lifting Up Holy Hands’ and ‘Prophetic Intercession’. He lives in New Delhi with his wife, Elsamma, and their four children.
We pray for him and his family that they may feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives and that their home may be filled with God's abundant blessings . May Our Lady Mother of the Church protect them under her mantle.
Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas SFX
Secretary General, CBCI