Charismania: Catholic Pentecostals

Chapter Three

As mentioned in the last chapter, Catholic Charismatics look to Charles Parham and his heresy as the origin of their movement. I should also add that some Renewal leaders and participants emphasize the so-called “Azusa Street Revival” as foundational for the Renewal in the Catholic Church. In the interest of focusing on the most essential elements of the Pentecostal Heresy as it pertains to the Renewal, I have decided not to focus on the Azusa Street Revival in any detail. I have made this choice because that particular revival was also the result of Parham’s shenanigans in Topeka — the leader of the Azusa Street Revival, William Seymour, received his spiritual formation and motivation from Parham after studying at the Topeka school. However, it is worth noting that the Azusa Street Revival was, in a word, insane. It was a riotous event and much of the same things seen at all revivals were witnessed there. In fact, even Charles Parham thought the Azusa Street Revival had gone too far, and he disassociated from it.

A New Pentecost 

In 1962, as Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council, he prayed: “Renew Your wonders in this our day, as by a new Pentecost. Grant to Your Church that, being of one mind and steadfast in prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and following the lead of blessed Peter, it may advance the reign of our Divine Saviour, the reign of truth and justice, the reign of love and peace. Amen.”

Now, in fairness to Good Pope John, this prayer did not ask for a new Pentecost in the literal sense, and the request that God renew the Church “as by a new Pentecost” should be taken with the belief that the Pope did not request from God a second Pentecost in the strict sense. Pentecost is a historical event that is recorded in Scripture and is unrepeatable, just like other historical events are unrepeatable. However, it is perfectly understandable to appeal to the events in the New Testament or the life of Christ in a metaphorical sense. For example, we may say that the Church is going through her “Passion,” but we do not mean that Christ is being crucified again in the strict sense. Or, we may recall events from the Old Testament like the Babylonian Captivity as a way of describing an era wherein the Church is persecuted, but we do not believe the literal event is being repeated.

When John XXIII prayed for a renewal of the missionary and evangelistic zeal of the Church by appealing to Pentecost, he displayed an appropriate Catholic sentiment by appealing to a great age of zeal and devotion. Sadly, the time since the Council has not been a “new Pentecost” in any sense, as the Crisis in the Church has only intensified and many aspects of Church life seem to be in free fall, if not already forgotten completely.

In any event, when we study the words, both written and spoken, of Renewal leaders, we get the sense that they believe that a new, literal Pentecost has arrived in the Church through the Renewal. As we will see, they believe that Pentecost has essentially returned with Charles Parham due to the prayer of Pope Leo XIII and that John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council opened the floodgates of the Charismatic Graces so that a new Pentecost could flourish in the Catholic Church. 

A Nun, the Pope, and Our Lady of Fatima

Two of the most important figures in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal are Al and Patti Mansfield, who have been involved in the Renewal since the very beginning in the 1960s. Patti is internationally known for her speaking and writing and is looked to almost as a prophetess by Renewal disciples globally. She has been featured on various Catholic and Protestant TV networks, and her writings have appeared in Catholic Charismatic publications for decades.

The Mansfields believe, as do their comrades in the Renewal, that an Italian Nun named Sister Elena Guerra (1835-1914) was the inspiration for the new Pentecost and outpouring of the Holy Spirit that allegedly took place last century. 

Sister Elena was born in Lucca, Italy, which as Providence would have it is the birthplace of my mother, and I lived in Lucca as a child. She was beatified in 1959 by Pope John XXIII. She was the foundress of the Oblates of the Holy Ghost and dedicated her life to teaching African and Chinese girls. She was a very holy woman, and she emphasized the work of the Holy Ghost in the soul as central to the spiritual life. Blessed Elena believed that a deeper reliance on the Holy Ghost would be key to renewal in the Catholic Church after a century of revolution and bloodshed in Europe. She wrote many times to Pope Leo XIII asking him to promote devotion to the Holy Ghost, and it is believed that her promptings led the Pope to consecrate the 20^th century to the Holy Ghost on January 1, 1901.

Of course, nothing about this history is “Charismatic” or “Pentecostal,” and neither Blessed Elena nor Pope Leo called for Catholics to speak in tongues, perform faith healings, or try to usher in a literal new Pentecost in any way.

However, the Mansfields do not see it this way. In fact, Al Mansfield believes that what happened in Topeka, Kansas with Parham’s fraudulent Bible cult was evidence of an outpouring of the Holy Ghost at the request of Elena and Leo XIII. He said: “Pope Leo XIII went into St. Peter's Basilica and, surrounded by the Bishops and Cardinals of the Church, saying in a solemn way, Veni Creator Spiritus, ‘Come Creator Spirit.’  And he (Pope Leo XIII) solemnly dedicated and consecrated the 20th century to the Holy Spirit. And, of course, at the very same time January 1, 1901, in Topeka, Kansas, there was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the little group there gathered at the Bethel Bible School.”¹

Quite frankly, this statement is blasphemous, as it points to the work of the Third Person of the Holy Trinity as the source and inspiration for the fraudulent and heretical madness of a false prophet who founded an anti-Catholic religion. In effect, this is to say that the Holy Spirit actively wills heresy to spread throughout the world. Nevertheless, Patti Mansfield believes that the “outpouring” in Kansas, supposedly the result of the prayer of Blessed Elena and Leo XIII, “marked the beginning of a great revival in the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit destined to sweep throughout this country and around the world.”² In addition, she believes that Elena “prayed the way we pray,” comparing her prayers to the prayers of Renewal participants.³ Mansfield also believes that Blessed Elena was “like a prophetess of this new coming of the Spirit.”

However, it is impossible that Elena prayed the way Charismatics pray, as she died in 1914 long before any bit of the Pentecostal heresy had entered the lives of Catholics. Blessed Elena was a devout Catholic nun who had a deep devotion to the Holy Ghost, as many Catholics have had over the centuries, and she was not a Pentecostal, and she did not prophesy anything like a coming age of ecumenical chaos where Catholics would adopt the theology of a sodomite preacher who believed he was Elijah. 

The Mansfields are hardly the only Renewal leaders to attempt a connection between Charles Parham’s revival of the Phrygian Heresy and legitimate Catholic events.