ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
     My thanks to John Vennari, editor of CATHOLIC FAMILY NEWS, for his
kind permission, during our telephone conversation Thursday evening 12
April 2001, to post the following essay on the website.  My only regret,
is taking so long to take advantage of his gracious kindness.  Mr.
Vennari's contribution to the battle of the Church militant is most
commendable.  CATHOLIC FAMILY NEWS is a God-send!  Pray for him, that
our Lord will continue to grant him the blessings to keep up his good
work for the traditional Roman Catholic Faith and catechesis.  Any
errors, textual or otherwise, in this presentation must be charged to me.
Bill Crofut

CATHOLIC FAMILY NEWS
August 1997     Vol. 4     Issue No. 8     Pages 1, 21-26
For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer
the loss of his soul? (Mark 8:36)

A ''Catholic" Charismatic Extravaganza
"To Speak in tongues you had never learned was, and is, a
recognized symptom in alleged cases of diabolic possession."
Msgr. Ronald Knox, Enthusiasm

by John Vennari
     It arrived on my desk a few months ago as yet another unsolicited
piece of bulk mail. The brochure from the Franciscan University at
Steubenville, announced that "Catholic" Charismatics were about to
celebrate their 30th Anniversary bash in Pittsburgh "where it all began,"
and for $69.00 registration, I would be welcome too.  So it was that on
June 27,1997, I found myself travelling toward this Pentecostal
extravaganza.  I went for the purpose of observation.  There was plenty
to observe.
     I had been to the "Toronto Blessing" church about two years ago, as
Catholic Family News printed an expose on this new movement written by
Silvia MacAhern, and I wanted to see the "worship service" for myself
before going to press.  The "Toronto Blessing" is a high-charged
Protestant sect that could be called "Charismatic to the Tenth Power".
They believe the Holy Ghost manifests Himself not only in
indistinguishable tongues and body gyrations (as was the case with the
Pittsburgh "Catholic  Pentecostals")  but also with screams, shrieks,
rolling on the floor, hysterical laughter, barking like dogs and oinking
like pigs.
     This "Toronto Blessing" received some favorable comment at the June,
1997 Charismatic Conference.  "Catholic" Charismatic pioneer Kevin
Ranaghan, in his opening address, spoke of the "Toronto Blessing" as a
true movement of the Holy Spirit.  In so saying,  this "anointed
preacher", as they call each other, told 7,500 Catholics in the audience
that barking like dogs and oinking like pigs is a true manifestation of
the Holy Spirit.
     None of the other speakers voiced any disagreement with this radical
teaching from the podium.  In fact, by the end of the weekend I would
witness priests and bishop(s) doing boogie-woogie dances on stage, I
would endure rock and roll rhythms passed off as "sacred music", I would
hear glowing prayers of praise for Protestant religions, and I would
marvel in dismay at Steubenville's Scott Hahn attempting to defend
Pentecostalism against bothersome "traditionalist" critics.  But we'll
come to all this later.

Grown in the Garden of Heresy
     Though it has been an intrusion into the Catholic Church for only 30
years, Pentecostalism is of longer history.  The majority of authors
identify its true father as England's John Wesley, the founder of
Methodism.  Wesley preached about the baptism of the Holy Spirit (or
"second blessing") which he claimed was an intense personal experience
confronting the Christian with the presence of God.
     In time, Wesley's Methodist sect became more mainstream, and
Pentecostalism branched  off into different areas.  In his booklet
"Assemblies of God" and other "Pentecostal Churches", the great
counter-reformation apologist Rev. Dr. L. Rumble (of Radio Replies
fame), traces Pentecostalism's expansion through the conduit of 19th
Century Revivalism which spawned "Holiness Churches", the Latter Rain
Movement and the Assembly of God Churches.  Since this booklet was
written prior to present ecumenical confusion, Father Rumble clearly
recognized Pentecostalism as another heretical sect that Catholics must
avoid.
     Regarding "talking in tongues" and other emotional outbursts, Father
Rumble wrote: "It was a kind of new discovery that such exciting
manifestations could result from strong religious feelings.  Prophet
after prophet arose to engage in a revivalism aimed deliberately at
creating such abnormal displays.  The idea grew that they were proof of a
special outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon elect souls; and such
emotional experiences were interpreted as evidence of 'Spirit Baptism,' a
'Second-Blessing', conferring holiness upon all who received such gifts."
[1]
     This point warrants comment.  It stands to reason that within
Protestantism, a need would develop for an intense personal experience as
proof of the presence of God.  Protestants falsely believe that Christ
did not establish a Church to "teach, govern and sanctify in His Name"
until the end of time.  Protestantism, rooted in private interpretation
of Scripture, is merely a loose confederation of believers who accept the
Bible as the only source of Divine Revelation.  They lack the
certainties of a Divinely instituted authority teaching infallibly that
the God-given sacraments of the Catholic Church always give grace
(holiness) to a soul who is properly disposed.
     This need, then, for proof by experience of God's presence in
one's life is the direct result of the Protestant's rejection of the
Catholic Church, its teaching authority and its sacred, grace-giving
sacraments.  Since this need is founded on an objective mortal sin
against Faith, any such emotional manifestation (that supposedly comes
from being 'baptized in the spirit') can only be explained by natural
causes or demonic influence.  Such manifestations also confirm the
Protestant in his sin of unbelief.  Since the Pentecostal believes he
HAS the Holy Spirit already (and can demonstrate it on cue) who
needs the Catholic Church?
     Aligned with unchangeable Catholic teaching and tradition, I argue
that to describe such exhibitions as the working of the Holy Spirit is
blasphemy.  To seek and imitate such phenomena is a reckless endangerment
of one's Catholic Faith.  To promote such manifestations is to play the
unenviable role of false prophet.  Herein lies some of the staggering
difficulties within "Catholic Pentecostalism."

Topeka's Tongues
     Catholic Pentecostals believe that the great outpouring of the
spirit in modern times really began from a small Protestant sect in
Topeka, Kansas led by Charles F. Parham.  Some "Catholic" Charismatics
such as Peter Herbeck (of Ralph Martin's Renewal Ministries), treat
Parham's revivalist movement as a Divine manifestation equal in drama and
holiness to the visitations of Our Lady of Fatima. [2]
     In his book Minority Religions in America, William J. Whalan
succinctly describes the sect's important role in modern Pentecostalism:

             "The reappearance of glossolaly (speaking in
        tongues) was reported in 1901.  Charles F. Parham, a
        Holiness preacher, was dismayed by the aridity of his own
        spiritual life.  He rented a white elephant mansion in
        Topeka, Kansas, and started a Bible school with about
        forty students.  Together they set out on an intensive
        study of scriptures and came to the conclusion that
        speaking in tongues was the one sign that a Christian had
        indeed received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  At 7
        p.m., on New Year's Eve in 1900, one of the students,
        Miss Agnes N. Ozmen, startled the assembled group when
        she began to pray in tongues.  Within a few days many
        more followed suit.
             "Parham spent the next five years as an itinerant
        preacher before opening another Bible school, this time
        in Houston.  One of his students, a negro minister named
        W.J. Seymore, carried the 'full-gospel' message to Los
        Angeles.  A three-year-long revival in that California
        city attracted people from all over thecountry, and these
        people planted Pentecostalism in most of the major cities
        in the U.S., as well as in many European nations.  The
        old Holiness Churches refused to give emphasis to
        tongue-speaking, but dozens of independent Pentecostal
        Churches were soon organized." [3]
          
     The charismatic Msgr. Vincent Walsh, an enthusiastic promoter of
"Toronto Blessing" aberrations, wrote approvingly: "Due to the ministries
of Parham and  Seymore, modern world-wide Pentecostalism was launched."
[4]  As a phenomenon among Protestant assemblies, it would enjoy
spectacular growth.  And in 1967, a group of Catholics in Pittsburgh,
with their defenses flattened by the steam-roller of aggirornamento, and
infatuated with a Protestant Minister's success story among young New
York hoodlums, would adopt a "new way of thinking," study the scriptures
according to this new mindset, and plunge themselves headlong into the
arms of heterodox practice.
     
"Stirrings in Pittsburgh"
     In the book Catholic Pentecostals, Kevin and Dorothy Ranaghan
(founders of the Catholic Pentecostal movement) give an account of the
movement's beginnings.  The Ranaghans and their colleagues at Duquesne
University had been involved with various activities popular at the time
(civil rights, etc.).  In the midst of these undertakings, they were
plagued with great spiritual aridity.  To combat this, they claim, the
group went in search of a greater influence of God in their lives.  The
date was 1966--a time of unprecedented ecclesiastical
upheaval.  Thomas Merton would soon be off to Tibet praying with the
Dalai Lama and calling for a unity which resembled Hindu "Oneness".  New
Age writer Teilhard de Chardin was practically reverenced by many
Catholic intellectuals as the fifth evangelist.  It was a tumultous
period in Church history with violent winds of change uprooting and
destroying countless Catholic landmarks.  With so many of the familiar
signposts swept away, it was all too easy for Catholics to wander out of
bounds seeking God in the wrong places.
     At a Cursillo Congress, this group met Ralph Martin and Steve Clarke
who introduced them to the book The Cross and the Switchblade--
 the story of Protestant Minister David Wilkerson's success among
teen gangs in New York.  Because of what Ranaghan and friends regarded as
"positive aspects" of Pentecostalism found in this book, and because of
the "transformed lives" of two of their friends involved with such
activities, they sought a similar experience.  Ranaghan recounts that his
group solicited the counsel of an Episcopalian minister, thus ignoring
the Catholic wisdom of the ages forbidding positive religious camaraderie
with heretical sects.  This clergyman introduced them to a Protestant,
Pentecostal gathering.  The group attended the meeting and took part in
the Bible study.
     One of those present, Ralph Keifer, wrote that at the end of this
prayer meeting "Pat [Bourgeois] and I asked to be prayed with for the
baptism of the Holy Spirit.  They broke up into several groups because
they were praying over several people.  They simply asked me to make an
act of faith for the power of the Spirit to work in me. I prayed in
tongues rather quickly." [5]  Later, the same Ralph Keifer laid
hands on two others (unidentified in the book) and they too "received the
baptism in the spirit."
     It was not surprising then that Kevin Ranaghan was the first speaker
on opening night at the 30th anniversary Conference.  After boasting that
God had filled him to overflowing with the Spirit, Ranaghan recounted
that in the early days, in order "grow in the spirit," he and his friend
sought spiritual advice from a Protestant prayer-group:

             "In the beginning the contact with Pentecostals of
        our area helped us to grow in an understanding and
        experience of the charisms.  We met in the home of the
        representative of the Full-Gospel Businessmen. And when
        he heard that a group of Catholics was coming, he rallied
        the troops, and brought in several Pentecostal ministers
        and a room full of prayer warriors to engage in what they
        were sure would be a hard-fought battle.  What they found
        was the most shockingly easy prayer-time they had ever
        known.  We claimed that we had already been
        baptized in the Holy Spirit, which they found hard to
        believe because after all, we were Catholics."

     (The audience broke into great laughter, in joyful mockery of the
"exclusive salvation" doctrines of the Catholic Church).  He continued,
"We said that we just wanted their help and advice on yielding to and
using the gifts.  They laid hands on us, and one by one the whole roomful
of us started to pray and sing in tongues.  No battle, just a victory
celebration."  (Thunderous applause)
     In making this statement, this "anointed preacher" seems to have
forgotten that a Protestant victory over Catholicism cannot be regarded
as a victory for the Holy Ghost.
     Then Ranaghan, further indoctrinating the crowd into
religious indifferentism, sang the praise and blessings of heretical
sects.  He said "Praise God for the old-time Pentecostals and for the
independent charismatics God sent our way in those days ... Yes, from the
beginning, it was an ecumenical celebration."
     This is how the "Catholic Charismatic Renewal" began--
Catholics receiving a Protestant mock-sacrament of "baptism of the
spirit', not through the sacramental channels of grace established by
Christ, but through collaboration with heretical groups.
     From Pittsburgh the movement spread to Notre Dame and then to Newman
Centers at Michigan State and the University of Michigan.  Within four
years from its beginning the Catholic Pentecostal movement spread to
dozens of areas in the U.S. and Canada.  Its epidemic-like expansion was
marked by bizarre episodes played out by peculiar characters.  Layman
Ralph Martin, one of the new breed of roving Pentecostals, traveled the
country exercising the self-appointed commission of baptizing others
(including priests and religious) in the Holy Spirit.  Father Connolly
describes an incident where both Trappist and Benedictine monks, not
willing to await the arrival of Ralph Martin, rushed out and found their
own local Pentecostals to "initiate them", and how, in turn, they spread
the "Spirit" among Catholics in their area.  [6]
     This alien "spirit" spread indeed.  Now it is a world-wide movement
with the power to draw 7,500 Catholics from all over the country to
celebrate its 30th anniversary.

  "Under the Spout Where the Glory Comes Out"
     Pittsburgh's David Lawrence Convention Center was set up theater
style with ample chairs and aisle space to accommodate the 7,500
registrants.  The stage served as speaker's podium, makeshift sanctuary
and bandstand.  A banner, beautiful large crucifix, Divine Mercy poster,
and image of Our Lady of Guadalupe also adorned the platform.  The band,
occupying left-stage, comprised singers, electric instruments and full
drum set.  It was similar to the band at the Toronto Blessing Church.
     The rock'n'pop "praise it music" played was undeservedly dignified
with the name "music ministry".  The band's front-man crooned the
melodies with that effeminate, sing-song, style that has come to be the
hallmark of modern, pop-mediocre Church music.  A scant handful of
traditional hymns were thinly spread throughout the weekend amongst a
heavy music program.  With one exception, there was no Gregorian Chant.
Though many of these songs were of a Top 40 ballad style, several had a
driving rock and roll drum beat that would catapult the crowd to its feet
singing, arms in the air, dancing in place.  During these performances,
one would notice young girls in tight jeans bopping to the music, smiling
and singing into each others's faces as if romping at a Beach Boys
festival.  There was loud cheering and applause at the conclusion of most
songs.  The Emcee, harvesting this enthusiasm, would encourage further
outbursts by shouting "PRAISE JESUS, PRAISE GOD, ALLELUIA,
ALLELUIA", to which the crowd would obediently shout along.
Sometimes, the Emcee would initiate an indistinguishable "prayer in
tongues."  Likewise, the audience would follow.  Then, another musical
number would begin.  The atmosphere was dominated by a blend of
Protestant revivalism, rock concert cheering and pep-rally spirit.
Anything Catholic would be swallowed up in such a tumult.
     Yet one striking exception occurred when the singer intoned a
cappella Veni Creator Spiritu in Gregorian Chant.  It was the only moment
of the weekend when the hall was permeated with that distinctive Catholic
trademark;  the reverential hush.  For this one moment the crowd sat
motionless.  No hands in the air, no waving, no dancing in the aisles, no
applause at the hymn's conclusion.  There is a power in genuine Sacred
Music that precludes its being accompanied by worldly cheering and
holy-roller demonstrations.  This peaceful interlude would not last long.
It appears that Charismatics, like small children, find it difficult to
sit still and keep quiet.
     At about 7:30 p.m. on opening night, the Erncee kicked things off by
seizing the microphone and screaming "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY CATHOLIC
CHARISMATICS".  The crowd responded with a deafening burst of
frenzied cheering that bordered on Beatlemania.  "There's gonna be a hot
time in the old town tonight" the Emcee barked overtop the roaring crowd.
     The  weekend  proceeded with charismatic prayers, liturgy, dancing,
"tongues", prophesying, and speeches encouraging the crowd to "live under
the spout where the glory comes out."

"Prophesying"
     One of the most peculiar Charismatic practices is "prophesying".  An
individual stands as the center of attention and speaks as if God were
speaking through him.  Quite a few Pentecostals performed this ritual
over the microphone.  The crowd listened intently as if they were in the
presence of God speaking on Mt. Sinai.  What was always uttered, however,
was a pious platitude that anyone with minimal knowledge of religion
could make up as he went along.
     An excerpt from a lengthy such "prophesying" runs: "Wherever you go,
wherever you are, know that the power of my Holy Spirit is the same for
you, and bring it to the people ... bring it, proclaim it and call upon
it and know that the same power you experience in you, you take forth
from this place, and have with you, forever, and in all the ministry that
I call you to do."
     After this "prophesying" the audience applauds while the Emcee
swoons, "praise the Lord, praise God, thank you Jesus, etc."
     At one point, in the midst of such "prophesying," one man stated: "I
the Lord am also your servant."  Jim Murphy, the Emcee, commented to the
crowd in awestruck amazement, "Isn't that wonderful!  GOD HIMSELF
has just told us that He is also our servant."  In practice, Murphy was
teaching the audience that indeed, GOD HAD JUST SPOKEN through the
charismatic prophet right before their eyes ...a presumption that is
foreign to Catholicism.
     There was not much solid teaching on doctrine, morals or
spirituality from the speakers.  Any Catholic teaching was highly
seasoned with post-Vatican II flavoring.  Anyone hoping to really learn
something would have walked away disappointed.  Like the Toronto
Blessing, most speakers were shallow, empty and often quite noisy.  The
weekend's primary purpose was to celebrate the joy of being "alive in the
Lord," with much encouragement to "march forward in the spirit."

No Rosary Strange Liturgies
     Patti Gallagher Mansfield, one of the pioneer charismatics of the
60s, lectured on St. Louis de Montfort's True Devotion to Our Lady.  The
speech was a hybrid of theologies blending the "goodness" of being
baptized in the spirit along with devotion to Mary.  Mrs. Mansfield
seriously undermined her own lecture, and shredded her credibility,
stating that she purposely did not recommend traditional devotions to
Mary such as the Miraculous Medal, the Rosary, etc., because, in her
theology, "it doesn't matter how you come to Mary, as long as you come."
     She further downplayed the importance of the Holy Rosary with the
declaration: "If devotion to Mary consisted of saying the Rosary every
day, I would be lost."
     I thought it odd that this Charismatic lady, (supposedly possessing
a special "hotline to Heaven" due to her baptism in the spirit) would so
self-assuredly contradict the express command of Heaven by Our Lady in
1917 who said "God wishes to establish in the world devotion to My
Immaculate Heart." Our Lady then gave specific directions on
how this devotion is to be practiced, most important of which is Our
Lady's request to pray the Rosary every day.  Our Lady then proved Her
words with the greatest miracle in New Testament history, the Miracle of
the Sun.  Yet none of Fatima's urgent directions from Heaven were
preached at this conference by speakers who constantly boasted of being
"filled to overflowing with the spirit."  During this gathering, Fatima
was practically non-existent.  There was no public recitation of the
Rosary during the entire weekend, yet plenty of time for revivalist,
dance-in-the-aisle "worship" services.
     The conference liturgies were Novus Ordo concelebrations with Bishop
Sam Jacobs, a to-the-bone charismatic prelate, as main celebrant.  Here
too, the scale of spirituality tipped toward Protestantism.  What took
place after the Gospel smacked more of an Amway motivational seminar than
a Catholic homily.  The "Sunday Sermon" featured Bishop Jacobs prancing
up and down the stage in revivalist style, spewing a generous mouthful of
"Amens" and encouraging audience participation.
     During this address, taking his cue from Our Lord's "Who do you say
that I am?" to Simon Peter, Bishop Jacobs screamed at the audience:
"WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?"  Screaming crowd: "JESUS!?
     Bishop Jacobs: "WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?"
     Crowd: "JESUS!?
     Bishop Jacobs: "WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?"
     Crowd: "JESUS!?
     The homily was often interrupted by loud, stamping applause... mind
you, this was in the middle of Sunday Mass!  Homilies on other days were
of similar stripe.  It was heartbreaking to endure a Roman Catholic
bishop carrying on like some cheap imitation of Oral Roberts.
     The Masses included choreographed "worship in tongues" that would
take place at a pause during the "Holy Holy Holy" and also of before the
Our Father.  The "kiss of peace" will be left to the reader's
imagination.
     Most eerie of all charismatic liturgical practices is the buzz of
"tongues" replacing the consecration bells.  During the consecration, at
the elevation of the Host and at the elevation of the Chalice, Bishop
Jacobs stood in elevation pose and initiated "prayer in tongues" that
spread through the entire congregation: "Hum de yah hay dah sham a lum
yada..."  A drone of indistinguishable gibberish would rise from the
crowd, sounding like the ghastly hum of a Hindu Ashram.  The vast
majority of the audience received Communion in the hand.

Father Michael Scanlon
     The summer, 1997 issue of Sursum Corda magazine featured a
surprisingly favorable article on Steubenville University.  The journal
reported that Steubenville's Father Scanlon "has allowed and even
encouraged the [charismatic] movement's decline at the University."
     With all due respect to this well-meaning publication, this is
certainly NOT the message that Father Scanlon transmitted during
his speech at the Pittsburgh Conference.  Not only is Steubenville
hosting the Charismatic Leadership Conference in 1998, but Father Scanlon
seemed determined to set the record straight regarding Steubenville's
commitment to Pentecostalism.  He opened:  "I just want to make it clear
about the Franciscan University of" Steubenville.  IT IS the Power
of the Holy Spirit, IT IS being baptized in the Holy Spirit, IT
IS the Charismatic Renewal that launched and is responsible for the
growth and maturity of this University, and I thank God for that!"
(thunderous applause)
     In this speech, Father Scanlon spoke of his "three conversions".
The first was when he came to be fully convinced in the truths of the
Catholic Church and Sacred Scripture.  The second was when he was at
Harvard Law School and abandoned all to become a Franciscan priest.  So
far so good.  But the third "conversion" was his entry into
Pentecostalism in 1973.  He explained that he felt it his duty, as Rector
of 170 Franciscan seminarians, to make his men holy, and was perplexed on
how to achieve this.  A Carmelite nun told him "You need to be baptized
in the Holy Spirit."  A week later, one priest and two laymen laid hands
on him.  He claims that there he received "A R-R-RUSH OF THE
SPIRIT".  He recounted, "after that, my preaching changed, people
started getting healed in the confessional.  People started flying in to
go to confession."  He gave accounts of spiritual and bodily healings he
had been involved with.  He also shouted, "I EXPERIENCE A GREATER
POWER OF THE SPIRIT, A GREATER RUSH TODAY THAN I DID THEN" (in 1973).
     While this was taking place, I tried to imagine humble models of
sanctity" such as Padre Pio, St. John Bosco and St. John Vianney boasting
to a crowd of 7,500 how "filled with the spirit" they were, and bragging
of their spirit-filled ministries having been so instrumental in unproven
cures.  It was repeated testimonials such as this by various speakers
that made me feel I was in the middle of a three-day Charismatic
infomercial.
     To hear priests like Father Scanlon praise the Protestant practice
of "baptism in the spirit" as if it were THE final road to
holiness is quite bewildering.  This is especially puzzling since
seminary rectors of old would have suffered a martyr's death rather than
seek a Protestant mock-sacrament as a channel to sanctity.  The Catholic
methods are still the only ones lawful and true.  Why did he not simply
employ the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius for these men, since the
Spiritual Exercises are a proven road to holiness, have been practiced
and endorsed by centuries of Popes and Saints, and were given to
Saint Ignatius by the Blessed Mother Herself (the spouse of the Holy
Ghost).
     As we know, to take part in non-Catholic religious services is a
grave sin against Faith, and Pentecostalism comes from such forbidden
religious activity.  One cannot help but wonder if a Catholic, even a
priest, walks into such sinful activities with his eyes wide open, and
persists in such heterodox practice, would end up being punished with a
spiritual blindness that judges certain evils as good.  Whether this is
the case with the clergymen at this conference, only God knows.
     Also, the Catholic is not easily impressed with the reported
miracles among Charismatics.  None spoken of at this conference were
documented.  Pentecostala are not the only group claiming miracles and
conversions to authenticate their movement.  There are numerous
unapproved Marian apparitions (some that report the Blessed Mother
warning "the Charismatics are from Hell") that also claim miracles and
conversions."  There are wild visionaries like Clemente in Spain who has
crowned himself "Pope Gregory XVI" who's movement likewise claims
healings and conversions.
     A miracle can only be genuine if absolutely no other natural cause
can be attributed to it (at Lourdes, only 65 as of 1989, have been
proclaimed by the Church as miraculous).  Also, for the miracle to be
truly of God, the message that the miracle enforces must be
in conformity with the traditional teaching of the Church.  Here, of
course, is where Pentecostalism falls flat, as there is nothing Catholic
about seeking holiness from heretical, non-sacramental sects.
     If any extraordinary phenomenon is used to justify a new or false
doctrine, then Catholicism judges this a "lying wonder" --
a phenomenon that comes from man or from the devil.  As Father Vincent
Miceli pointed out in his speech, The Antichrist, "these are
called lying wonders because they draw people to a different religion
rather than the true religion."
     Our Catholic Church has a marvellous two-thousand year history of
"discernment of spirits" contained in traditional ascetical and mystical
theology that must be rigidly applied to such manifestations.  Here we
have the opposite: Laypeople lay hands on an individual, the individual
gets a RUSH, and immediately proclaims that he is "full of the
Spirit."  This is shocking presumption according to Catholic teaching.
     The Catholic Church teaches that we should never accept at face
value any apparent supernatural manifestation as something definitely
coming from God.  Never--since it is too easy to be
deceived by demonic forces.  The agony suffered by Saint Margaret Mary
Alacoque and other authentic favored souls laboring to determine the
genuineness of their heavenly manifestations should be ample testimony.
     I see none of these criteria applied to Charismatics.  In fact, the
Charismatics seem to act as if these teachings either do not exist, or do
not apply to them.  However, it would seem that most Charismatics at this
conference were simple, well-meaning people who know nothing of these
teachings, nor of their duty to "test the spirits" according to these
wise strictures [9]
     Parents considering sending their children to Steubenville
University should know that Father Scanlon boasted with great pride, "75%
of all students of 'the Franciscan University at Steubenville, have been
prayed with to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit."  Also, a busload
or two of Steubenville students were manning the volunteer work at this
conference.  Hence, Steubenville students will be exposed to such
Charismatic gatherings that are viewed by this university as acceptable
Catholic practice.

Rock Around the Flock
     The Charismatic Saturday Night Dance that followed Fr. Scanlon's
speech would launch the element of the absurd to skyscraping heights.  Of
course, this "Saturday Night Fever" approach to religion was also
undeservedly dignified with the name "ministry session."  It consisted of
Pentecostal Diva, Babsie Bleasdell, "doing her thing" over the microphone
for about an hour.
     The session was one of Bleasdell preaching and in leading prayers in
the revivalist, Baptist patter of "praise the Lord, Alleluia, the spirit
of fear and doubt be gone in the Name of Jesus, let the Spirit of God
fall upon you ... a spirit of joy!  joy!" while the audience caught the
enthusiasm and flared into a "holv groove."  The band played its
energetic rock'n'pop "praise" music with an increased fury.  At one
point, the dam of enthusiasm burst as the crowd rushed to the front of
the hall in full-body dancing like adoring fans celebrating their
favorite rock band.  Bleasdell would encourage the frolicking.  In the
midst of all this, a James Brown rendition of "Papa's Got a Brand New
Bag" would not have been out of place.
     Bleasdell also employed the well-worn Pentecostal mesmerism: "some
of you experience that you don't have a headache any more... raise your
hand.", etc., etc.  At one point, Father Scanlon, obviously overwhelmed
with enthusiasm, seized center stage and addressed the crowd as if in the
grip of a dream: "I almost never get visions but I can see God's hand
moving down inside of so many in this assembly and reaching in and
grabbing the garbage ...grabbing the garbage, (rising to a
shouting crescendo) Let Him PULL IT UP!  GET RID OF IT.  SEND IT UP
NOW  --  SEND IT OUT.  THE HOLY SPIRIT'S GONNA REPLACE IT!
GARBAGE OUT -- HOLY SPIRIT IN!!"  The crowd responded with
"Praise God, Praise Jesus, Alleluia, Alleluia."  There would be time for
the entire congregation to join in "healing prayers."
     For the most part, I find Charismatic leaders to be a cadre of very
silly men.  This impression was nowhere better confirmed than at this
"ministry session".  While Bleasdell was rowing the crowd with cries of
"Love and dance before the Lord... He longs to see it", priests
and bishop(s) on a crowded stage, including Father Scanlon, were having
the time of their lives and joined in the dancing.  7,500 Charismatics
were treated to the spectacle of Bishop Sam Jacobs joining arms with a
woman (a plain-clothes nun, I think) executing a rather clumsy series of
moderate can-can kicks.  At one point, Bleasdell was flanked by Bishop
Jacobs on her right and what appeared to be another bishop on her left
engaging in full body dance, their pectoral crosses bouncing to the
rhythm, while smiling and waving at the audience.  The three of them
together looked more like Diana Ross and the Supremes than religious
leaders.  It seems that the more our Church officials talk of human
dignity, the more they degrade ecclesiastical dignity.

Problems with Pentecostalism
     There is no room to catalog each of the outlandish activities, since
there is enough material at the Convention for a major work of
non-fiction.  Likewise, a full treatment of the varied and numerous
theological problems with this movement is beyond the scope of this
article.  Apart from those already mentioned, some of the more
outstanding difficulties with "Catholic" Pentecostalism are as follows:

1) The entire movement is founded on a sin against Faith.

     There are three ex cathedra (infallible) dogmatic pronouncements
teaching that outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation.  The
most striking of those pronouncements reads: "The sacrosanct Roman
Church, founded by the voice of our Lord and Savior, firmly believes,
professes and preaches ... and proclaims that those who are not living
with the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and
schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life, but will depart
'into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels'
[Matt. 25:41] unless before the end of life the same have, been added to
the flock...[A]nd that no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even
if he sheds his blood for the name of Christ, can be saved unless he has
remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church." [10]
     In perfect continuity with these infallible teachings, traditional
Catholic Moral theology, here summarized by Bishop Louis LaRavoire
Morrow, S.T.D., holds that "A Catholic sins against Faith by taking part
in non-Catholic worship, because he thus professes belief in a religion
he knows to be false."[11]
     Yet by the admission of Catholic Charismatic pioneer, Kevin
Ranaghan, the movement began with Catholics performing the grotesque
ritual of seeking a spiritual blood transfusion from the dead corpse of
Protestantism, and proclaiming  that God "filled them to overflowing with
the spirit" for doing so.  Such collaborating and "seeking the holiness
of the Holy Spirit" from anathematized heretics (what Protestant would
survive the anathemas of the Council of Trent?) cannot be a religious
movement truly of God.

2) It is a movement founded on principles condemned by Pope Pius XI
and Pope Pius XII

     Both Pope Pius XI and Pius XII (basing their teaching on the
unchanging tradition of the Church rather than the progressive
novelties of liberal theologians) warned against the dangers of
interfaith activity.  Pius XI in Mortalium Animos taught that though St.
John recounted Our Lord's prayer "that all may be one", as well as
Christ's command "to love one another", "nevertheless (St. John) strictly
forbade any intercourse with those who professed a mutilated and
corrupted form of Christ's teaching, 'If any man come to you, and bring
not this doctrine, receive him not into thy house, nor say to him, God
speed you."'
     Pope Pius XI further castigated interfaith projects, stating, "...It
is clear that the Apostolic See can by no means take part in these
assemblies, nor is it in any way lawful for Catholics to give such
enterprises their encouragement or support.  If they did so, they would
be giving countenance to a false Christianity, quite alien to the one
Church of Christ." [12]
     Yet as already mentioned, Catholic Pentecostalism is the product of
such forbidden ventures.
     Further, Pope Pius XII, in his 1949 Instruction on Ecumenism taught
that if there is to be any exchange between Catholics and non-Catholics
(solely for the sake of converting the non-Catholic to the one true
Faith), all activity must be guided by the truth that "the Catholic
Church possesses the fullness of Christ", that is, it does not need to
acquire things that go to make up the fullness of Christianity from other
denominations.
     Catholic-Pentecostalism "needed to acquire" the mock-sacrament of a
false religion (baptism in the spirit) for its impetus.  Hence it acts in
haughty disdain of Pius XII's traditional directives.

3) It favors religious indifferentism

     As noted already, the movement was born through unlawful
collaboration with Protestantism.  To this day, founder Kevin Ranaghan
still "praises God for the old-time Pentecostals," and speaks of
Protestant splinter groups like the "Toronto Blessing" as genuine
movements of the Holy Ghost.
     Further, among the vendors at this 30th Anniversary Conference, two
Protestant organizations were represented.  Destiny Image Publications, a
non-denominational "ministry" producing revivalist literature displayed a
full selection of books for sale, including those promoting the "Toronto
Blessing".  Charisma magazine, a Protestant publication, hawked their
journal to crowds with the promise that "starting next month, each issue
of our Charismatic magazine will contain a 'Catholic supplement'."
Indeed, Pentecostalism and ecumenism feed off each other, since
acceptance of Pentecostalism depends on recognizing Protestantism as
another valid form of Christianity.
     In 1864, Venerable Pope Pius IX, in perfect continuity with the
unchanging dogmas of the centuries, taught in his landmark Syllabus of
Errors that "IT IS AN ERROR to believe that Protestantism is
nothing more than another form of the same true Christian religion..."
[14]  As should be obvious by now, Catholic-Pentecostalism is
immersed in this error in origin and practice.

4) The movement's continued growth would seem to depend on the absence
of the Latin Tridentine Mass.

     The "Catholic Charismatic" movement started while the Latin
Tridentine Mass was in decline and the Protestant-style Novus Ordo
emerging a new liturgy historically proven to be favorable to
experimentation and improvisation.  The liturgical abberations mentioned
in this article could not have taken place within the Latin Tridentine
Mass.  Cardinal Ottaviani noted, that the Latin Tridentine Mass in
alignment with the Council of Trent's dogmatic teaching was an
insurmountable barrier against heresy.  [15]  It is not
unreasonable to speculate that implicit in Catholic-Pentecostalism is the
erroneous notion that the Latin Tridentine Mass was an obstacle to the
work of the Holy Ghost, since it may have stood in the way of
Pentecostalism's "powerful unleashing of the Spirit" throughout the
world.

5) It virtually ignores Catholic teaching on the discernment of
spirits.

     Though this point has been covered already, it must be further noted
that Pentecostalism encourages extraordinary phenomena such as
"prophesying" and "talking in tongues."  Yet the great mystical writer
and Doctor of the Church, St. John of the Cross, warned that souls must
flee from seeking any such manifestations.  What this great Saint said of
private revelations equally applies to all such phenomena: "Wherein the
devil habitually meddles go freely [in extraordinary phenomenon] that I
believe it impossible for a man not to be deceived by them, unless he
strive to reject them, such an appearance of truth and security does the
Devil give them." [16]
     Also, Msgr. Knox wrote that "to speak in tongues you had never
learned was, and is, a recognized symptom in cases of alleged diabolic
possession." [17]  To freely expose oneself to such dangers
borders on madness.

6) It bears a striking resemblance to the occultic New Age movement in
three ways:

     a) It is a pan-denominational movement with a non-Catholic
principle as its unifying factor, in this case, "baptism in the spirit".
     b) It is a religion of EXPERIENCE.  Charismatics never really
provide a satisfactory theological explanation of "baptism of the
spirit," but emphasize  that it is something that must be experienced.
This mirrors New Age tendencies.
     c) It sneers at any traditional Catholic teaching thatstands
in opposition to it.
     Hence, the problems with "Catholic Pentecostalism" are true and
serious, and cannot be passed over lightly, or laughed out of court by
appealing to a new "living tradition" that suddenly blesses what the
Church always condemned.
     The Athanasian Creed states "Whoever would be saved before all else,
it is necessary that he hold to the Catholic Faith; unless such a one
preserve it integral and inviolate, without doubt he will perish in
eternity."  In light of the traditional teaching of the Church, it can be
firmly argued that to seek involvement with Catholic-Pentecostalism's
wild mixture of truth and error, as well as its heterodox practice, is to
recklessly endanger one's Faith.

A Conquered People
     The Catholic historian Dr. John Rao observed that throughout
history, a conquered people will often take on the characteristics of
their conquerors."  A more apt description of "Catholic-Pentecostalism"
could not be formulated.  Charismatics are a conquered people who have
surrendered their priceless, God-given heritage while dancing on the
graves of their Catholic ancestors in giddy imitation of Protestant
practice. [19]
     The Pentecostalism and ecumenism presently gripping our Holy Church
could be nicknamed "Luther's Conquest."  It is not only our duty to
resist it, but also to beseech Heaven on behalf of the "Catholic
Charismatic" who prays with his hands in the air and his foot on the
throat of traditional Catholic doctrine and practice.

Footnotes

[ 1]  Rev. Dr. L. Rumble, M.S.C., "Assemblies of God" and other
"Pentecostal Churches", p. 18

[ 2] Peter Herbeck, "The Titanic Battle", Renewal Ministries
Newsletter, Ann Arbor, MI, May, 1997

[ 3] Whalen, op. cit. pp. 179-180

[ 4] Msgr. Vincent M. Walsh, What is Going On?, (Wynnewood,
PA, Key of David Publications, 1995), p. 31.

[ 5] Kevin and Dorothy Ranaghan, Catholic Pentecostals,
Paulist Press, New York, 1969, p. 15.

[ 6] James Connelley, O.S.C., "The Charismatic Movement," in As
the Spirit Leads Us, (Paulist Press: New York, 1971).

[ 7] I want to make it clear, in case anyone misunderstands this
format, that Bishop Jacobs was not trying to induce the crowd to
proclaim HIM (Bishop Jacobs) as Jesus, this is simply the emotional
charismatic way of eliciting from the audience some sort of act of faith.

[ 8] It should be here stated that I (and Catholic Family News) do
not follow or promote any of the unapproved apparitions of recent history
or before. -- [J.V.]

[ 9] Two excellent sources of Catholic theological treatment on
Extraordinary Phenomena can be found in The Spiritual Life by Fr.
Adolph Tanquerey (out of print) and The Three Ages of the Interior
Life (2 volumes] by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP available from
Catholic Family News.

[10] Pope Eugene IV, Exbulla. "Cantate Domino", Feb. 4,1441.

[11] Most Reverend Louis LaRavoire Morrow, S.T.D., Bishop of
Krishnagar, My Catholic Faith, (orignally published in 1949),
p. 193.

[12] Pope Plus XI, Mortalium Animos, On Fostering True
Religious Unity, Jan. 6,1928.

[13] "Instructions on the Ecumenical Movement," A.A.S., Jan. 31,
1950, cf. Romano Amerio, Iota Unum, (Sarto House, Kansas City, 1996),
p. 549

[14] The full quotation of Proposition 18 reads that it is an
error to say that "Protestantism is nothing more than another form of the
same true Christian religion in which form it is given to please God
equally as in the Catholic Church", Pope Pius IX's Syllabus of Errors as
written in Dogmatic Canons and Decrees, Tan Books and Publishers,
Rockford, Ill.

[15] The Ottaviani lntervention,(Tan Books & Publishers,
Rockford, IL), p. 27

[16] St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel,
Chapter 27

[17] Msgr. Ronald Knox, Enthusiasum. (Oxford University
Press, Oxford, 1950), p. 551.

[18] Dr. John Rao, "Why Catholics Can not Defend Themselves" An
address given by Dr. John C. Rao (D. Phil, Oxford University, Associated
Professor of History, St. John's University) on the occasion of the first
anniversary of the Dietrich von Hildebrand Institute, Feb. 18, 1993, and
printed in the book Americanism and the Collapse of the Church in the
United States, p. 42

[19] When I say Protestant practice, I really mean
Pentecostal-Protestant practice, since I know many sober Protestants
would never go anywhere near Pentecostalism.

TEXT ACCOMPANYING PHOTOGRAPHS
Attendees danced with umbrellas while others prayed at the Charismatics'
30th Anniversary Conference.

The concelebrated Masses included choreographed "worship in tongues" that
took place at various parts of the liturgy.

The vast majority of these "spirit filled" charismatics received
Communion in the hand.

The rock'n'pop music played was undeservedly dignified with the name
"Music Ministry".

Pentecostal Diva, Babsie Bleasdell, encouraged the frolicking in the
so-called "Ministry" session.  Bishop Jacobs on the left, and what
appears to be another bishop on the right, engage in full body dancing
and waving to the crowd.

Destiny Image Publications, a Protestant vendor at the Conference,
displayed books such as Holy Fire that promote the Toronto
Blessing".

Charisma magazine, another Protestant vendor at the Conference, hawked
their magazine to passers-by with the promise that "starting next month
each issue of our charismatic magazine will contain a Catholic
supplement".

Catholic-Pentecostal pioneer Kevin Ranaghan mentioned the bizarre
"Toronto Blessing" as a true movement of the Holy Ghost.

"Saturday Night Fever" at the charismatic "worship" service.  Those on
stage interpret this natural pop-rally enthusiasm as "the spirit moving
through the crowd".

Scott Hahn and Pentecostalism
     The most theological meat at the 30th Anniversary Conference was
provided by the convert, Scott Hahn.  Unfortunately, this address,
entitled Scripture and Tradition, was a massive disappointment in
a number of ways.
     Though Hahn uttered much of what is true, it was obvious that
trouble was coming when he asserted that the Church now has a new
understanding of Tradition thanks to such "leading lights" as Maurice
Blondel, Henri de Lubac and Yves Congar.  These "leading lights" are the
current fashion enjoying tremendous popularity and influence in today's
Church.  Yet this vogue does not eclipse the substantial problems
contained in their new thinking.
     The great anti-modernist Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange wrote to Maurice
Blondel in the 1940's asking him "to retract his false definition of
truth before dying ... if he didn't want to spend too long in Purgatory."
[1]  In the 1946 essay "Where is the 'New Theology' Taking Us?",
Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange also warned of the dangers inherent in the "new
theology" of Henri de Lubac.  The eminent Thomistic scholar concluded,
"where is [this] 'new theology' taking us?  it is taking us in a
straight line right back to modernism by way of whims, errors and
heresy."
     Henri de Lubac's theology blurs the distinction between the natural
and supernatural orders.  This novelty was condemned in Paragraph 26 of
Pope Pius XII's 1950 Encyclical against modern errors, Humani
Generis.  Likewise, in 1980, the staunchly orthodox Cardinal Siri
devoted fifteen pages of his book Gethsemane to examine de Lubac's
errors.  Siri concluded that de Lubac's theology, taken to its logical
conclusion, would mean that "either Jesus is only man, or that man is
Divine." [2]
     Further, those whom de Lubac regarded as heros and enemies is of
great concern.  Not only did de Lubac nurse a sneering contempt for the
anti-modernist Garrigou-Lagrange, but de Lubac was also a steadfast
defender of the arch-apostate, Teilhard de Chardin. [3]
     Of Yves Congar, the French writer Arnaud de Lassus commented that
"having contributed to the conciliar rupture with Traditional
Catholicism, Fr. Congar had the honesty to recognize the existence of
this rupture." [4]  Msgr. William T. Smith of Dunwoodie Seminary
has lectured that Liberation Theology rests heavily on Karl Rahner and
Yves Congar. [5]
     Hence, Dr. Hahn's unqualified praise of these modern theologians
sends chills up the spine.  The "living tradition" propagated by these
new thinkers is the basis for the entire Vatican II revolution
--a revolution that has turned the Church of today into
something different from the Church of yesterday.  As one progressive
theologian wrote, "At Vatican II, the Church redefined herself."
     If in the name of this "living tradition," the Church of today can
be different from the Church of yesterday, then it follows that the
Church of tomorrow will be different from the Church of today, and the
Church of the distant future will be different from the Church of
tomorrow.  One is compelled to agree with Garrigou-Lagrange's keen
foresight that the "new theology" favors the never-ending flux of
modernism.
     Toward the end of the speech, Dr. Hahn shifted gears from a
discussion of Tradition to a full-throttle support of the
Catholic-Pentecostals.  This defense of Pentecostalism reminded me of
Msgr. Knox's lament that the Montanist heresy of the 2nd Century "would
have made but a small ripple on the surface of Christendom, if the
wayward genius of Tertullian had not lent energy to its propaganda."
[6]
     "You as Charismatic Catholics", Hahn sympathized, "seem to get it
from both sides these days -- from the non-Catholics and
friends who are ex-Catholics whose Charismatic experience may have led
them out of the Church and from the traditionalist Catholics who bash you
for emotionalism."
     Presenting himself as the reasonable man in the middle, he then
refuted a caricature of traditionalist objections.
     "I hear certain Catholics" he stated, "who call themselves
traditional say 'We have powerful sacraments, we don't have any need for
emotions.'"  Hahn's reply to this objection, "Hey look, if we've got
sacraments as powerful as the Church teaches, then of all Christians in
the world, we have just cause to get emotional." (loud applause)
     Any self-respecting Catholic will resent this flippant response.
Due to his recent entry into the Church, perhaps Dr. Hahn has yet to
witness the splendor of genuine Catholic emotion that is always
accompanied by profound reverence and sober piety.  Even though the
Catholic Faith does not rest on the emotions, Catholics have known for
centuries that the "adventure of orthodoxy" can thrill the heart like
nothing else.  I have seen Ukrainian Uniate choirs booming their majestic
Slavonic Chant, men and women singing full throat with tears streaming
down their faces.  I have been enchanted by the sight of teenage girls,
modestly dressed with heads covered, quietly gasping to catch their
breath, overcome with the majesty, beauty and power of a full pontifical
Tridentine High Mass.  I know of traditional Catholic Ignation retreats
producing genuine tears of compunction from sinners who have been away
from Confession for decades.  To suggest that an exhibition of
high-voltage, Protestant giddiness is equal or superior to the intimate
religious emotions emanating from Catholic piety is a crowning insult to
the Saints and to our Catholic heritage of two millennia.
     In further exaltation of Pentecostalism, Dr. Hahn proclaimed,
"Remember, our first Pope, Peter, was probably the first man to speak in
tongues, and presumably the Blessed Virgin Mary too."
     This is a verbal dissembling worthy of Rembert Weakland.
     There is no record that Our Lady spoke in tongues or conducted any
kind of external ministry (which is the purpose of tongues).  Even if
Hahn made this declaration with a mental reservation, the audience that
he is addressing will understand him to mean that our Blessed Mother,
Queen of Heaven and Earth, practised the indistinguishable gibberish of
old-time Protestant Pentecostals.  One would not want to be responsible
before God for conjuring up such an image in peoples' minds.
     The miracle of tongues exercised by Peter and the Apostles, and as
defined by Saint Thomas Aquinas, bears no resemblance to Charismatic
practice.  Furthermore, according the Catholic Biblical Encyclopedia, the
charism of tongues in ancient Corinth has little in common with the
glossolalia of today's Pentecostals. [7]
     Scott Hahn's defense of this new movement defies understanding.
Pentecostalism is a Protestant innovation that has never been tolerated
in Church history.  Dr. Hahn would do well to remember the counsel of
Pope St. Pius X who assures us "Indeed, the true friends of the people
are neither the revolutionaries nor innovators, they are the
traditionalists." [8]

Footnotes:

[1] "Quelle Che Pensano Di Aver Vinto", Si Si, No No, Rome, Jan. 31,
1993, pp. 2-3;

[2] Siri. Gethsemane. p.70:

[3] See "Ratzinger Benmoans Novus Ordo Liturgical Collapse,
Catholic Family News, June, 1997;

[4] See Catholic Family News. Nov. 1996, p. 3: 7: 5) Lecture On
Liberation Theology by Msgr. Smith, Keep the Faith Inc.:

[6] Enthusiasm, p. 25.

[7] See article on page 3;

[8] Pope St. Pius X, Our Apostolic Mandate. Aug. 25, 1910,
Paragraph 44.

     Additionally, Mr. Vennari has granted permission to reproduce the
following (Part I of a series):

Catholic Family News Reprint Series

A "Catholic" Charismatic Jubilee

       A "New Springtime" of Protestant Evangelization
                       by John Vennari
     "The Streams of Christianity are gathering ... "  That was
the headline on the color brochure I received from Franciscan University
of Stuebenville promoting Celebrate Jesus 2000, a charismatic
gathering to which all Pentecostals, Catholic or not, were invited.  The
conference, scheduled for June 22-25  in Saint Louis, Missouri, was at
the massive TWA sports arena.
     This first brochure advertised 26 speakers, top heavy with
Protestants.  The enlarged brochure I received a few weeks later, placed
the number of speakers at 47.  Again, the majority of these were
Protestant preachers, including Pat Robertson from the 700 Club and John
Arnott from the bizarre "Toronto Blessing" sect.  Among the minority of
Catholic speakers, several were charismatics promoted by Mother
Angelica's EWTN. 
     Since I often cover Charismatic activities for Catholic Family
News readers, I realized this was an event not to be missed.  I
mailed in my registration, booked my flight, said my prayers, and braced
myself for the worst.
     In fact, this interfaith extravaganza proved so overwhelming that
reporting on it will require a number of installments in CFN.  In this
issue, we will limit the discussion to three points:
     1) The heretical background of the conference,
     2) A sampling of the bizarre sights I beheld,
     3) Catholics indoctrinated into the "Toronto Blessing".

Background

     Celebrate Jesus 2000 is the latest in a series of noisy,
expensive Pentecostal parties that celebrate "interdenominational unity"
at the expense of Catholicism.  As has been documented in Catholic
Family News, [1] the "Catholic Charismatic" movement is
Protestant in its origin, belief and practice.  It began by
lay-Catholics, in 1967, seeking the "Pentecostal experience" from
Protestant groups  --  groups whose heretical beliefs place
them under the solemn anathemas of the Council of Trent.  Nevertheless,
in defiance of 2,000 years of Catholic teaching that forbids Catholics to
partake in non-Catholic religious ritual, the Catholics attended this
prayer meeting, invited Protestants to "lay hands" on them, began
chirping in "tongues," and then claimed to be "filled to overflowing with
the spirit."  [2]  Since then, the "Catholic Charismatic" movement
has fanned into a world-wide epidemic.
     It follows, then that one of the ecumenical consequences of
"Catholic Pentecostalism" is the "breaking down of denominational walls"
and a sort of pan-Christianity with the Charismatic experience
(rather than revealed truth) as the unifying factor.
     The watershed event in this "breaking down of denominational walls"
was the 1977 Charismatic Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, attended by
50,000 people from at least 10 different denominations including:
Baptists, Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Messianic Jews,
non-denominational "Christians", Pentecostals and United Methodists."
[3]

"The Holy Ghost Breakdown"

     Three years ago, in the opening address of the "Catholic"
Charismatics' 30th Anniversary conference in Pittsburgh (June 1997),
Catholic Pentecostal pioneer Kevin Ranaghan recounted what he considered
to be one of the most dramatic moments in charismatic history:

             "I can still see, in fact, lean still sometimes hear
        the 'Holy Ghost breakdown' at the great ecumenical Kansas
        City conference attended by about 50,000 people almost 20
        years ago.  Bob Mumford was preaching in the middle of
        the stadium and suddenly it just broke out  --
         it just broke out, exultant, cheering praise
        that lasted for about seventeen minutes."  [4]

     It seems that this ecumenical Kansas City conference took place
because the Charismatics believed that they were told by Heaven that God
wanted this interdenominational event to be staged.  In the November 1977
New Covenant (a reportedly Catholic monthly published by Our
Sunday Visitor press), the magazine's editor, Bert Ghezzi wrote
approvingly:

             "This [Kansas City] conference brought together for
        the first time Christians from the three traditions of
        the charismatic--renewal the classic
        Pentecostals, the neo-Pentecostals and the Catholic
        Pentecostal.  This historic gathering was a first
        response to a directive word that the Lord spoke
        at a conference on the Catholic charismatic renewal in
        1974.  At that time, the Lord expressed His desire to
        bring the three streams together ... a sign of hope
        for all Christians ... the Lord called us all to reach
        beyond our denominational walls to work and pray
        aggressively for a higher goal the unification of
        all Christianity."  [5]

     Here we have the blasphemous implication that true Christian union
exists outside of the Roman Catholic Church, with Catholicism
represented as just one of the many religious bodies whose narrow
denominational lines stand in opposition to Christian unity.
     The so-called "directive word spoken by Our Lord" is nothing more
than an individual charismatic claiming to voice a "prophetic
announcement" by the direct influence of the Holy Spirit.  This is called
"prophesying"--a boring, tedious procedure that is part of
the Pentecostal routine, whether "Catholic" or Protestant.  The
"recipient" of the "message" has no means of testing whether this
"prophecy" is from God, from his own imagination or from the devil.  Nor
does he (nor anyone else in the assembly) think that the "message" should
be tested in any way.  Usually the "prophetic announcement" is a banal
platitude that anyone with minimal knowledge of religion can make up as
he goes along.  In other words, it is easy to fake.
     Yet each utterance is believed to be a direct communication from
Heaven.  Notice in the above quote, New Covenant's Bert Ghezzi did
not write that it was his opinion that the Lord was speaking.  No, he
stated emphatically that it was "a directive word of the Lord".
This is typical behavior for Charismatics.  It is a presumption foreign
to the spirit of Catholicism, it defies 2,000 years of Catholic teaching
on the discernment of spirits, and opens wide the way for demonic
deception.
     Further, the organizing of the Kansas City conference was in
obedience to a supposedly divine "directive" that commanded Catholics to
do what the consistent teaching of the Popes have always forbidden
--to attend or hold an inter-faith extravaganza of
heretical sects with each denomination placed on equal footing with the
other.  [6]  To treat all religions as equal is in direct
opposition to the infallible dogma that there is only one true Church
outside of which there is no salvation.  [7]  Pope Leo XIII
reiterated this imperative when he taught that "to treat all religions
alike" is to "adopt a line of action that will lead to godlessness."
[8]  Likewise, Pope Pius XI taught that the Apostolic See has
"always forbidden" Catholics to engage in any religious
camaraderie with members of false religions." [9]
     This teaching, which goes back to the Apostles, is rooted firmly in
Scripture.  Saint Paul forbade Titus to consort with heretics:  "A man
that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition avoid.  Knowing
that he, that such a one, is subverted, and sinneth being condemned by
his own judgement." [10]  (Titus 3:10-11)  This is one of
several Scriptural citations given in the Scriptural Reference for the
Baltimore Catechism to support the Baltimore Catechism's teaching: "A
Catholic sins against Faith by taking part in non-Catholic worship,
because he thus professes belief in a religion he knows to be false."
     To give just one of many examples that this teaching of the
Baltimore Catechism reflects 2,000 years of Catholic doctrine, we cite
the Council of Carthage, AD 398, at which the great Saint Augustine was
present:

             "None must either pray or sing psalms with heretics;
        and whosoever shall communicate with those who are cut
        off from the Communion of the Church, whether clergyman
        or laic, let him be excommunicated." [11]

     As is the case with all heretical movements, however, the
Charismatics were not about to let bothersome points from Sacred
Scripture or defined Catholic doctrine stand in their way.

A New "Unity"

     The so-called "Holy Ghost Breakdown", mentioned by Kevin Ranaghan,
occurred when Protestant Bob Mumford was "preaching" to the
50,000.  At one point, the entire football stadium suddenly erupted into
an extended cheering, "praise- frenzy" that lasted about 17 minutes.
This, the charismatics claim, was the Holy Spirit at work on the assembly.
     In truth, a Catholic can only interpret this "breakdown" as
springing from either natural (earthly) or preternatural (demonic)
causes.  The Holy Ghost had nothing to do with this Pentecostal eruption
because, in the objective order, non-Catholics cannot be "filled
to overflowing with the Holy Ghost."  Non-Catholics live in denial of
many of the Divine truths revealed by God and, in the objective
order, cannot be considered to be in the state of grace.  This is why
Venerable Pope Pius IX taught in his Syllabus that it is an error
to even entertain good hope for the salvation of those who live
and die outside the Catholic Church. [12]
     Yet, the charismatics interpret this natural peprally enthusiasm as
"the Holy Ghost moving through the crowd."  Charismatics also choose to
forget that satan could easily instigate such a jubilant "breakdown" in
order to deceive "even the elect."
     In this case, deception was the name of the game.  The result of
this inter-faith conference was the growing conviction that the unifying
factor of Christ's true faithful is Pentecostalism, and that no single
denomination can claim to be His one true Church.
     At this 1977 conference, the Protestant Pentecostal, Dr. Vinson
Synan from Oklahoma City, rejoiced that "three streams of Pentecostalism
have come together tonight because we are one in the spirit."  At a press
conference later, Synan said regarding Church unity, "the place to start
is with common spirituality," and that "the number-one thread that holds
us together is the baptism of the spirit."  [13]
     Now, 23 years later, this same Vincent Synon [14]wrote the
letter of welcome that appeared in the Celebrate Jesus 2000
conference program where the same "unified in the spirit" concept is
repeated:

             "The congress follows conferences in Kansas City
        (1977), New Orleans (1987), Indianapolis (1990) and
        Orlando (1995).  At each of these gatherings, people from
        Christian denominations and traditions gathered to exalt
        in the name of Jesus, worship in the Holy Spirit, and
        answer the call to evangelize the world in our
        generation." [15]

     This call, however, for a trans-denominational "world
evangelization" between Catholics and non-Catholics was rightly condemned
by Pope Pius XI as "fair and alluring words" that "cloak a most deadly
error, subversive to the foundations of the Catholic Faith." [16]

Celebrate Jesus 2000

     Upon entering the TWA Dome for the Celebrate Jesus 2000
conference on Friday, June 23, I found myself walking behind a big-boned
woman in a tiny dress sporting a huge green, flame-shaped tatoo that
climbed up her left leg.  Her left forearm also boasted a green,
wreath-like tatoo shaped as an arm-band.  With the exception of the
"charismatic dancers" in outlandish costumes, this casual, immodest,
"take me out to the ball game" apparel was the standard dress for the
10,000 "spirit-filled" charismatics that crowded into the huge arena.  I
learned later that the vast majority of this 10,000 was Catholic.
     An opening Mass had been held in the main hall the previous evening,
but I hadn't arrived in time for that.  It was celebrated by Justin F.
Rigali, Archbishop of the Saint Louis Diocese.  Archbishop Rigali also
celebrated the conference's closing Mass on Sunday morning.  At the
conclusion of Sunday "Mass," I shot some grotesque video footage of
Bishop Rigali processing out of the arena as the crowd danced wildly to
loud rock'n'roll rhythms thumping and surging from the rock'n'pop band on
stage.
     Since the conference opened Thursday night and ended Sunday morning,
it left only Friday and Saturday with morning-to-evening schedules.  Both
Friday and Saturday contained a variety of morning sessions conducted
simultaneously from which one could choose.  Likewise for the myriad of
afternoon sessions, all starting at 2:00.  At the 7:00 evening sessions,
held in the main dome, all 10,000 attendees gathered for a rip-roaring,
rooting-tooting charismatic shout-a-thon.  These wild evening sessions,
especially dominated by Protestant preachers, contained nothing
 -- absolutely nothing recognizably Catholic.  The
construct was a combination of Evangelical Revivalism, High School
pep-rallies and Beatlemania.
     On Friday afternoon, I wandered into the "Discerning the Signs of
the Times" seminar which featured Protestant Steve Strang of
Charisma magazine, and Catholic Jim Murphy.  The session opened
with a Methodist duo: a smiling, singing woman who clapped her hands in
rhythm, accompanied by a smiling, singing woman at an electric keyboard.
Their music labored on for about 30 minutes.  Most of the songs were
hand-clapping, evangelical numbers sung with so much sugar that I found
it difficult to suppress the gag reflex.  Those in the audience loved it.
They sang, danced, clapped, waved arms in the air. I left before the
session ended in order to see what the other seminars were offering.  As
I wandered through the arena's hallways, I followed the distant but
unmistakable sound of driving Latin American rhythms accompanied by
whooping, shouting, singing, clapping, which led me to a door that
advertised "Hispanic Catholic" Charismatics.  Upon entering the room, I
was confronted with an electric band on stage churning out percussive,
Latin music.  The stage was also crowded with people who danced, whooped
and screamed.  The room was full of seats, no one sitting, everyone on
their feet dancing. A large woman bugged me the moment I walked in.  It
was like a Saturday night party in Spanish Harlem, only without the
tequila.  Now and then, a preacher blared an energetic pep-talk over the
microphone in Spanish.  Then the music kicked in again.  I didn't stay
long, but I observed that these festivities lasted about three hours.
The next day's Hispanic Catholic session in the same room was along the
same lines.

EWTN's Rappin' Priest

     There were also afternoon "youth sessions" where teenagers were
gathered to be challenged and motivated in the Lord.  One "youth
minister," Protestant-pentecostal Bob Weiner, delivered an allegedly
trans-denominational pep-talk that was actually rooted in Protestant
error.
     He encouraged all to run to the stage and give their lives to Jesus.
Most of the adolescents complied.  Weiner then claimed that now that the
teens had done this, their sins were forgiven.  This, of course, mocks
the Sacrament of Confession instituted by Our Lord for the forgiveness of
sin.
     Another youth session was led by EWTN's Father Stan Fortuna,
a priest from South Bronx, who specializes in Catholic Rap!
Sporting a Franciscan habit and a pony tail, he strikes me as a Year 2000
version of those 1960s priests who adopted hippie parlance in order to
"relate to the youth".  Father Fortuna, when he talks to teens, affects a
ghetto patois that makes him sound like one of da boys in da
'hood.  When he explains that the devil can move like lightning, he
says "Dat bruddah's fast, man!".  He sings, plays drums, plays
guitar, raps!  Father Stan's session, where he alternatively preached and
performed, lasted about 90 inmutes.
     He spoke of his recently released Catholic Rap CD which he
described as a "foot stompin', soul-stirring, in yo' face, mystical
catechesis."  Naturally, he performed a few samplings.  To the sensual
pulse of throbbing rhythm, he rapped:

     ...Yeah, I'm da priest
          Did you get bit by da beast?
     Let me take you to da feast...
          ...Yo, you got to come to JC.
     Come wit' me,
          I'm the priestly Emcee.
     Careful, ain't no referee.
          USA, OJgettin'offscott-free.
     Yo, you down wit' me?
          It's all larger than life,
     livin' coluh 3-D.
          Yo, we all one family ..."

     He also played the drums in a funky beat as he performed his rap
song about chastity and morality called "The Zipper Zone."

A Catholic Majority

     While attending these afternoon sessions, I learned that the vast
majority of the 10,000 attendees was Catholic.  Pat Robertson opened his
Saturday afternoon lecture asking "How many of you are Baptists?  Raise
your hand!  How many Methodists?  How many Catholics?", etc.  The show of
hands indicated about ninety-five percent of his audience as Catholic.
At another session, lay-deacon Dennis Chitwood asked the same questions
with the same results.
     Then on Sunday morning, the conference scheduled various worship
services for different denominations.  I looked in on each one of them.
There were two non-Catholic services held in small rooms attended by
relatively small groups.  By contrast, the Catholic Mass was held in the
main arena and attended by thousands.  From these observations, it can be
said with certainty that at any given session at Celebrate Jesus
2000, ninety to ninety-five percent of the audience was Catholic.

Catholics Indoctrinated into "HolyLaughter"

     The "Toronto  Blessing" is a high-energy Protestant sect that
could be called 'Charismatic to the tenth power."  It teaches that the
Holy Ghost not only manifests Himself in the individual by
indistinguishable tongues and body gyrations, but also with screams,
shrieks, rolling on the floor, barking like dogs, oinking like pigs, and
hysterical laughter.  It sprang from the Vineyard Movement originated by
Protestant John Wimber, and is also known as "Holy Fire", "Holy Laughter"
and "The Anointing".
     Through the Charismatic Movement, this "Holy Laughter" is making its
way inside the Catholic Church.  It is promoted by charismatic Msgr.
Vincent Walsh who operates under the good graces of Philadelphia's
Cardinal Bevilaqua. It was praised by charismatic Kevin Ranaghan in his
opening address at the 1997 Catholic Charismatics' 30th anniversary
conference.  John Wimber, the originator of the Vineyard Movement, who
believes this "Holy Laughter" is from God, was an invited speaker at
Father Michael Scanlan's 1996 Charismatic Leadership Conference at
Steubenville.
     And now, at Celebrate Jesus 2000, administered by Franciscan
University of Steubenville, three Protestant preachers from the "Holy
Laughter" revival were invited to "preach and minister" to the crowd:
     1) John Arnott, Founder of the "Toronto Blessing" sect,
     2) John Kilpatrick, from the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola
Florida, an offshoot of the Toronto Blessing, and
     3) Stephen Hill, also from the Brownsville Revival in
Pensacola.

     On Friday evening, Stephen Hill shared the stage with EWTN's
Babsie Bleasdell at a three-hour revival session where he was encouraged
to preach his corrupted form of Christianity to a screaming, adoring
crowd, the majority of which was Catholic.  At the evening's end, there
was a Protestant style "altar call" where thousands of Catholics rushed
to the front of the hall to be prayed over by Protestants.  With both
hands, Hill would grab the individual by the head and scream "FRESH
ANOINTING! FRESH ANOINTING!  FIRE!"  The person he was praying over
would then drop to the ground….

The "Toronto Blessing" Session

     John Arnott of the Toronto Blessing had already started his
monologue by the time I entered his seminar.  In front of the stage,
about seven human bodies were sprawled on the floor. I learned later that
at the commencement of his speech, he had invited those who really
wanted the "anointing" to come up front.  A small group of people
dashed to the podium.  They were prayed over by Protestants, dropped to
the floor and lay there for over an hour.  This scene was tame compared
to what I witnessed 45 minutes later.
     Arnott's manner of speaking is neither energetic nor dynamic.  His
style is laid-back, his appearance casual, his message heretical.  He
told us of how he went to Bible school and started a lackluster ministry.
He told us of his divorce and remarriage (Carol Arnott, who is wife #2,
is now a "minister of the anointing" with him).  He told us of the trip
he and his "wife" took to Argentina where they were "baptized in the holy
fire" by Protestant Claudio Freidzon.  He told us that ever since they
received this powerful "anointing," his Toronto Airport Vineyard Church
"exploded," growing by leaps and bounds into a worldwide revival.  He
told us that in order to receive the anointing, we have to go after it
with gusto:  "It doesn't come to the half-hearted or lukewarm.  This
is for people who are stirred."
     He immediately began stirring the audience.
     Arnott started with a blatant heresy about the Incarnation of Jesus
Christ.  He told the crowd:

             "Jesus did not minister as God on the earth.  I hope
        you know this.  He ministered yes, as the Son of God, but
        He left His Divinity behind Him and came to earth
        as a man.  But He was a man clothed with the
        'anointing'.  The Lord began to speak to me and He said
        'if we could only get one percent of the body of Christ
        filled with the Holy Ghost and anointed like Jesus was in
        His ministry  ...'  then I began to see the
        possibilities."  [18]

     Arnott's religion thus holds that Jesus Christ was not true God and
true Man; that Jesus, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity did not
exercise His Divine Power as God Incarnate; that Jesus, when He walked on
earth, was not "consubstantial with the Father" as Catholics recite in
the Nicene Creed.  Rather, according to Arnott, Jesus left his Divinity
in Heaven as if hanging it aside on a coat-rack, came to earth as Man,
and was only able to exercise Divine power through the anointing
of the Holy Spirit.
     This perverse doctrine rivals the various condemned Christological
heresies of the early centuries.  [19]  It contains flagrant
heresy regarding the Catholic teaching on Sanctifying Grace, which space
does not permit us to here detail. [20]  It also eclipses the
Divinely revealed truth that the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church
were established by the positive will of Christ as the means to
communicate the Divine Life of Sanctifying grace to man. The Sacraments
have no place in Arnott's superstitions.
     Next, Arnott claims that we too can receive an "anointing" similar
to what Jesus received.  We too can be clothed with a similar
power.  As a result, we will perform similar prodigies and in a way,
become mini-Christs ourselves:

             "If we could have just one percent of the billion
        Christians (on earth) 'press into God' for an anointing
        that Jesus walked in, we could wrap this thing up in 30
        days (applause from the audience).  Take Jesus times 10
        million, spread Him around the earth.  That would give
        you 5 or 6 for your city to, you know, get people up at
        funeral parlors (that is, raise people from the dead -
        Ed. ), and work those kind of miracles.  So I set my
        heart on that.  Lord, we must have more of the
        anointing."

     Then, Arnott expounded to the crowd his own set of principles about
Revival:
     First:  That it always comes from an obscure place from
unknown people.  He said:

             "When you and I are expecting revival, first of all,
        it always comes from an obscure place.  Like Toronto or
        Pensacola …"

     I thought it odd he regarded Toronto, the fifth largest city in
North America, as an "obscure place".
     He also says it comes from unknown people; and then, apart from
Christ, recited a litany of heretics whom he regarded as great religious
leaders, including himself in the mix:

             "Who ever heard of Christ or Luther or John Wesley
        ... or William Seymore ... or Rodney Howard Brown ... or
        Steve Hill or John Arnott until the Holy Spirit fell upon
        us?"

     Second:  Arnott's claims that "Revival is always despised and
rejected".
     He reminds the audience that "Jesus was criticized, so were all the
Apostles, so were all the reformers" (by this, he means Protestant
reformers).  "You're going to meet with theologians with concerns. You're
going to be misunderstood.  But you know what?  I don't even care about
that ... 'cause we lost our reputation a long time ago."
     This, in fact, is a cheap cop-out regarding the severe criticism the
"Toronto Blessing" receives for its bizarre practices.  In so many words,
Arnott dismisses all valid criticism with the statement:  "Christ and the
Apostles were criticized, and so are we."

Open Wide the Doors to Demons

     At this point, Arnott arrived at the most sinister part of his
lecture.  He launched a barrage of false arguments to dispel the
misgivings of anyone harboring reservations about opening himself up to
bizarre manifestations, which are the hallmark of the "Toronto Blessing".
     He claimed that yielding to the grotesque exhibitions of screaming,
barking like dogs, oinking like pigs, and hysterical laughter are "God's
way of breaking your spirit of pride" since "God puts a premium on
humility and vulnerability".
     He claimed that some of the more violent manifestations were the
evil coming out of the person so that he could be "filled with the
spirit".
     He also said, "At first I had no explanation as to why people stuck
to the floor and couldn't get up.  I always preached the Holy Spirit is a
gentleman;  He'll never make you do anything against your will.  I've
since learned that though one of the fruits is gentleness, that's not
always true."  He then reminded the audience that Paul had been blinded
and Zachary struck dumb for nine months.  Arnott failed to tell his
listeners that these were rare, extraordinary occurrences that God
allowed for a specific purpose, and not the normal means of
"receiving" the Holy Ghost, as the "Toronto Blessing" claims.
     Further, there is no scriptural account of St. Paul oinking like a
pig.
     Arnott challenged, "If you get electrocuted when the power of God
comes upon you, why are you surprised by that?  I would think when God
comes on you with power, you'd be lucky to live through it."
     He then invoked a false interpretation of Scripture as his advocate:

             "Many Christians are so afraid of having an
        experience with God. (They're told to) be careful of all
        that emotional stuff... People are scared to death.
        (They ask) what if I get a counterfeit?  Well, haven't
        you read what the Scripture says?  "If you ask your
        heavenly Father for bread, HE WILL NOT give you a stone.'
        [thunderous applause] If you ask Him for fish, He's not
        gonna give you a snake.  What kind of Father do you think
        He is?  See, this works by faith.  If you got faith for a
        counterfeit, you just might get one.  But I tell you, if
        you got faith for the real thing, the Bible promises you
        something, and it will be more than you bargained for, I
        can promise you that.  We learn more by experience than
        any other way.  And when you experience the living God,
        it will revolutionize you."

     By these and other statements, Arnott flattened the interior
defenses that anyone had erected against opening oneself up to
preternatural powers.  He left his audience wide open for self-delusion
and demonic deception.  The frenzied scene that followed will be detailed
shortly.

John Arnott vs. John of the Cross

     Arnott's presumption is foreign to the spirit of Catholicism.  It
defies Sacred Scripture as well as the Doctors and Fathers of the Church.
     Scripture and Tradition warn us that not only is it possible,
but that we are likely to be deceived if we run after external
signs and wonders.  Scripture teaches "Satan can appear as an angel of
light" (2 Cor. 2:5), therefore we must "test the spirit". (I
John 4)
     The two great Mystical Doctors of the Church, St. Theresa of Avila
and St. John of the Cross are of one accord regarding those who seek
supernatural manifestations.
     Saint Theresa of Avila warned, "such things are always to be feared
until the spirit is understood." [21]
     Saint John of the Cross who is considered the greatest of all
Mystical Doctors leveled the same warning.  What this great Saint said of
private revelations equally applies to all such phenomena: "Wherein the
devil habitually meddles so freely [in revelations or extraordinary
phenomena, Ed.] that I believe it is impossible for a man not to be
deceived by them, unless he strive to reject them, such an appearance
of truth and security does the Devil give them ..." [22]
     The eminent theologian Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, 0.P.
reiterated this teaching in his monumental Three Ages of the Spiritual
Life.  He explains that Saint John of the Cross strongly reproves the
desire for mystical phenomena.  "On this point he (St. John of the Cross)
is in complete accord with Saint Vincent Ferrer and shows that the soul
desiring revelations is vain; that by this curiosity it gives the devil
the opportunity to lead it astray; that this inclination takes away the
purity of Faith, produces a hindrance for the spirit, denotes a lack of
humility, and exposes it to many errors. [23]
     In a superb lecture on the Mystical Doctors entitled "Catholics
Mysticism or Spiritual Mediocrity, the Only Choices," Catholic writer
Edwin Faust reiterates the principles of Saint John of the Cross
regarding supernatural phenomenon:
     "Should you be visited by any of these wondrous seemingly
Heaven-sent delights, Saint John has one thing to advise you.  Reject
them: Flee from them: Pay no attention to them ... St. John of the Cross
adds (that) the more external and corporeal the experience, the less
certain it is from God.  It could be produced by our own power, or by
satanic power... St. John then lists several harms that will come to the
soul that will cling to these sensual delights or manifestations all of
which can be summed up in two general effects.  1) Faith is
weakened as we come to rely on sensible things.  2) The
door to the devil is open as we come to desire these sensible things."
[24]
     These principles not only cut the legs off the "Toronto Blessing"
but dismantle the entire Charismatic Movement as well, since Charismatics
both desire and rely on sensible manifestations.
     Now, traditional Catholic theology teaches that there do indeed
exist external gifts of miracles and even a legitimate form of speaking
in tongues (that is, as recorded in the Acts.  The Apostles spoke
in their own tongues and their hearers, all from diverse lands and
languages, were able to understand the Apostles' words without the aid of
an interpreter.)  These outward gifts are called graces gratis
datae.  [25]  They have little to do with the holiness of the
person who receives and exercises them.  They are given to souls for the
sake of others.  They are not some sort of unmistakable sign, as
Charismatics claim, that God has poured His holiness into the soul that
receives them.
     This, incidentally, is why Bishop Fulton J. Sheen regarded the
Charismatic movement as a hoax.  Because, he said, "Pentecostalism
centers on the graces gratis datae", then he remarked wryly,
"baby-talking in 'tonglles'. [26]
     Yet, Saint John of the Cross warns, that even if we received these
graces gratis datae we should not automatically assume they are
from God, because we know not for certain whence they come. Should we
value these gifts, St. John lists three serious harms that will befall
the soul. "1), the soul may deceive and be deceived, 2) the
soul will fall away from Faith, and 3) the soul will be subject to
pride and vainglory." [27]
     These are the guidelines that Catholics must follow rather than the
ravings of John Arnott, a divorced and re-married heretic; or the
vagaries of John Kilpartick, Stephen Hill or any Protestant-pentecostal
preacher, all of whom teach the same corruption in one form or another.
     Unfortunately, Charismatics from Mother Angelica's EWTN, by their
enthusiastic participation in the conference, and Franciscan University
of Stuebenville by administrating and promoting Celebrate Jesus
2000, stand guilty of sending thousands of Catholics into the arms of
these "seducers of the people."  [28]

"HELP ME! HELP ME! HELP ME!" 

     As Arnott delivered his speech, which contained a host of other
erroneous teachings, wild sounds started to emanate from the audience.
At times, something he said triggered applause, amens, hallelujahs.  As
his talk progressed, a wave of new noises, giggles, cackles, screams,
prolonged moans, and hysterical laughter rose from various sections of
the hall.  Sometimes, the outburst reached such a pitch it was difficult
to hear Arnott's amplified voice.  Then it would die down.
     Now and then, Arnott invited someone in the audience to stand up, as
he did to a young woman.  To the man next to her he said "Lay hands on
her."  The man obeyed.  Arnott instructed the crowd to join in the prayer
and exclaim, "Give her more, Lord.  Give her more!"  The crowd
immediately complied.  For emphasis, Arnott then commanded the audience,
"Say it with authority!  Give her more, Lord!"  The crowd obeyed
with relish, including seven "Catholic" nuns in the audience who are part
of a "Charismatic-Franciscan" religious order.
     Towards the conclusion, the entire audience was on its feet, hands
outstretched in the air, many with eyes closed as if in a trance, as
Arnott prayed in low, soothing, hypnotic tones for the "Spirit" to fill
them with His "anointing."  At one point the slow rhythm of an oop,
oop, oop, oop, sounding like a chimpanzee in a jungle, filled the
room, and provided bizarre "background music" to Arnott's ramblings.  As
his prayer-solo crescendoed, so did the wild sounds rise from the crowd:
loud screams, babbling in tongues, protracted yells.  "Holy Spirit come
upon them NOW!"  Arnott exclaimed, "Everything of pride and
sophistication, I break your power over God's people NOW"'
     He told each person to turn to his friend and to "not just pray over
them, but pray with authority and say COME HOLY SPIRIT!  BRING
YOUR POWER!  BRING YOUR AUTHORITY! BRING YOUR FIRE!"  Again, the audience
obeyed, including the nuns.
     At this point, the crowd erupted into a loud, ungodly cacophony that
defies description.  I heard one man screaming in a rapid-patter,
goo-goo-ga-ga-DIFE, goo-goo-ga-ga-DIFE, sounding a bit like an
angry headhunter.  People were shaking, swooning, dropping to the floor.
The howls and screams increased, intensified.  One woman, on the carpet,
flat on her back, legs outstretched in the air, was swaying side to side
in delirious hilarity.
     By the end, the crowd was in full hysterics.  One woman was
shrieking and screeching as if her leg was now being forcibly amputated
without anesthetic.  She was convulsing up and down, back and forth in
her seat as if tossed in a sadistic rocking chair.  She then screamed at
ear-spitting pitch, "HELP ME!  HELP ME!  HELP ME!  HELP ME!"
     As I left the room, I saw in the adjoining hallway Father Harold
Cohen, [29] all smiles,  praying in charismatic style over one of
the nuns that had just left Arnott's seminar.  The nun appeared not the
least bit troubled over the grotesque spectacle in which she had
participated.  Immediately after, I found myself walking beside five nuns
who had also engaged in Arnott's session.  All of them were gliding
along, happy as larks.  I wanted to ask them, "didn't you think all of
that was insane?" but the question stuck in my throat.

Footnotes:
 [1]  See "A 'Catholic' Charismatic Extravaganza" by
John Vennari, Catholic Family News, August, 1997
(reprint #218, $2.50US pp.).

 [2] Ranaghan himself gives this testimony in
Catholic Pentecostals, Kevin Ranaghan (Paulist Press,
1969).  Also in Witness - audio lecture from the 30th
Anniversary Conference, Kevin  Ranaghan, (distributed by
Steubenville University).  Both are quoted and referenced in
"A 'Catholic' Charismatic Extravaganza."  (See footnote #1)

 [3] North American Renewal Service Committee web
page, http://pcti.org/narsc2.html.

 [4] Audio cassette, Witness by Kevin Ranaghan.

 [5] Bert Ghezzi, New Covenant, November,
1977, Editor's Page.  (Emphasis added).

 [6] See the 1928 Encyclical Mortaliurn
Animos, by Pope Pius XI which condemns all inter-faith,
ecumenical activity.  Available from Catholic Family News
for $4.25US pp.

 [7] There are three de fide definitions that there
is no salvation outside the Catholic Church.  The most
explicit and forceful of the three is from Pope Eugene IV
(1431-1447) who infallibly taught at the Council of
Florence:  "The Most Holy Roman Church firmly believes,
professes and preaches that none of those existing outside
the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews,
heretics, and schismatics can ever be partakers of eternal
life, but that they are to go into the eternal fire 'which
was prepared for the devil and his angels' (Mt. 25:41) unless
before death they are joined with Her [the Catholic Church]."

 [8] Pope Leo XIII Libertas, On Human Liberty,
cited from The Kingship of Christ and Organized Naturalism,
Father Denis Fahey, Regina Publications, Dublin, 1943, p. 8.

 [9] Mortaliurn Animos, (from the Popes
Against Modern Errors, a collection of encyclicals published
by Tan Books) p. 301.

[10] Guyot, Scriptural References for the
Baltimore Catechism (Originally published in 1946.
Recently republished by Roman Catholic Books) p. 60.

[11] Coun. Carth. iv. 72 and 73. Cited from The
Sincere Christian, by Bishop George Hay, Appendix: "On
Communicating in Religion with Those who are Separated from
the Church of Christ", (James Duffy & Sons, Dublin -
Imprimatur by G.J. Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin) p. 555.

[12] The full condemned proposition reads, "It is an
error to believe that 'Good hope at least is to be
entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are
not at all in the true Church of Christ'.", Proposition #17,
Pope Pius IX, Syllabus of Errors, 1864 as cited in
Dogmatic Canons and Decrees, p. 191.  In all Church
teaching, the Popes are always speaking in the objective
order, since only God judges the interior dipositions of the
soul.  The eminent theologian Father Francis Connell said it
well when he taught, "Far from minimizing the exclusiveness
of the Catholic religion, our people should be instructed
unhesitatingly, whenever the occasion offers, and to let non-
Catholics know that we consider them as deprived of the
ordinary means of salvation, however excellent their
intentions."  (Father Francis Connell, C.Ss.R.,
"Communication with Non-Catholics in Sacred Rites,
American Ecclesiastical Review, Sept., 1944)

[13] North American Renewal Service Committee web
page, http://pcti.org/narsc2.html.

[14] Vincent Synon is Chairman of the North American
Renewal Service Committee (NARC) who organized the
conference.  Serving on the Executive Committee for the 200
congress are Chairman Vinson Synon (Pentecostal), Sister
Nancy Keller (Roman Catholic), Jim Jackson (Non-
Denominational), Bishop Samuel Green (Pentecostal) and
Vernon Stoop (Mainline  Protestant).  (Celebrate  Jesus
2000 conference program, p. 7.)

[15] Celebrate Jesus 2000 conference program,
p. 2.

[16] Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos, (Popes
Against Modern Errors) p. 294.

[17] This is only part of the words to his rap-song,
I Hear You Got Plans.  Fr. Fortuna stated that
proceeds from his tapes, CD's and videos goes to "our work
with the poor":  Even if this is true (and it probably is),
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen lamented that many priests think
that talking and acting like teenagers is a valid form of
evangelization because it makes them lovable to teens.
Sheen said that the opposite is true.  The priest, he said,
is the Ambassador of Christ, and "No one is loved for
degrading an ambassadorship."

[18] The audio-cassette title of the lecture from
this seminar is simply called "Saturday Morning Talk", John
and Carol Arnott, Resurrection Tapes, Minneapolis, MN. All
quotes from Arnott are from this lecture.

[19] For a superb treatment on the Catholic theology
regarding the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, consult A
Manual of Dogmatic Theology, Volume II., Fr. Adolph
Tanquerey, (Desleec, 1959), Tract X, First Section:  'The
Mystery of the Incarnation."

[20] For possibly the finest presentation of the
Catholic teaching on Sanctifying Grace, consult: Grace:
Actual and Habitual. Pohle & Pruess, Volume 7 of a 12-
volume Treatise of Dogmatic Theology by the same authors.
(B. Herder, St. Louis, 1917)

[21] Cited from Private Revelations, A Critical
Analysis by  Peter Valde-Magnus, (Instauration Press)
1990, p. 16.  Even when the Doctors and theologians are
speaking of caution against private revelations, the same
rules apply to the reception of any extraordinary graces or
manifestations.

[22] St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mt.
Carmel, Book II, Chapter 27.

[23] Fr. Garrigou-LaGrange, The Three Ages of the
Interior Life, first published in 1948, republished by
Tan Books in 1989., pp. 582-583.

[24] Audio cassette: "Catholic Mysticism or Spiritual
Mediocrity, the Only Choices" by Edwin Faust (from 1999
Catholic Family News conference) available from
Catholic Family News, Tape #8 -$9.99 pp.

[25] The standard distinction made in Catholic
theology is 1) Gratis gratis datae that are for the
sake of others: preaching, miracles, etc. And 2) Gratia
gratum faciens which are for the interior holiness of
the individual.  These second, interior gifts are of much
higher value than the first.

[26] Renewal and Reconciliation, an audio-
cassette series of a 1974 retreat by Archbishop Fulton J.
Sheen to priests.  He discusses the vagaries of the
charismatic in a lecture entitled 'The Holy Spirit."

[27] "Catholic Mysticism or Mediocrity", Faust.

[28] Here is the first principle given by Bishop
George Hay in his exposition that Sacred Scripture  forbids
communication between Catholics and non-Catholics:  "The
first is grounded upon the light in which all false religions
are considered in the Holy Scripture, for there we are assured
that they arise from false teachers, who are called seducers
of the people, ravenous wolves, false prophets, who speak perverse
things: that they are anti-Christs, and enemies of the cross
of Christ; that, departing from the true faith of Christ,
they give heed to the spirits of error; that their doctrines
are the doctrines of devils, speaking lies; that their ways
are pernicious, their heresies damnable, and the like.  In
consequence of which, this general  command of avoiding all
communication with them in religion is given by the apostle:
"Bear not the yoke together with unbelievers; for what
participation hath justice with injustice? or what
fellowship hath light with darkness? and what concord hath
Christ with  Belial?  Or what part hath the faithful with
the unbelievers? or what agreement hath the temple of God with
idols?  For ye are the temple of the living God." (2 Cor.
6:14) [Bishop Hay, The Sincere Christian, pp. 548-
549.] This section of Bishop Hay's work is available from
Catholic Family News, "Ecumenism Condemned by Sacred
Scripture" Reprint #292, $1.75US pp.

[29] Father Harold Cohen's programs are made
available through EWTN's Web site.  All those whom we have
identified in this issue as "EWTN charismatics" also have
their programs available on EWTN's web site


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