This year marks 50 years since Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR), a lay-led charismatic community, began in the Archdiocese of Melbourne. Fifty years ago, Cardinal James Robert Knox, the fifth archbishop of Melbourne – and a champion of the faith formation of clergy and the laity – encouraged CCR Melbourne to pursue its ministry of helping people to grow in faith through the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the presence of a loving God in their lives.
To mark the 50th anniversary of CCR Melbourne, a mix of online and in-person celebrations were held on the weekend of 6-7 March 2021, with a special anniversary Mass celebrated by Archbishop Peter A Comensoli on Sunday 7 March at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Brunswick East.
Lenyce Willason, Director of CCR Melbourne, welcomed attendees to the church, located only streets away from the main CCR Office and gathering space.
‘The Holy Spirit has just been so wonderful,’ said Lenyce, who reflected that it was wholly appropriate for the anniversary Mass to take place at Our Lady’s, ‘because it’s been our spiritual home for at least the last 40 years.’
CCR Melbourne is part of an international network of thousands of prayer groups and communities, present in almost every country around the world.
Over the years, CCR has become an integral part of the local Church in Melbourne, actively providing opportunities for people to grow in their faith through prayer groups, community services and outreach. Celebrating 50 years had brought a sense of maturity to the CCR, said Lenyce, but there remains a freshness to its mission.
‘We are now mature and ready to move on to new things that God has planned,’ Lenyce said.
Archbishop Comensoli congratulated CCR on their 50-year presence within the Archdiocese of Melbourne and praised CCR for their flourishing ministry. ‘Praying and living in the Spirit was once frowned upon,’ said Archbishop Comensoli. ‘Now we know it to be a wonderful and honoured pathway for God’s people to take towards holiness in their daily lives.
Thank you for the gift of the Spirit for which you are stewards. Be the heart of the gospel for the years to come. Happy golden jubilee!’
Before the conclusion of the Mass, Archbishop Comensoli blessed and commissioned representatives of CCR’s new ministry, formed in response to Pope Francis’ newly instituted unified service for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal called “CHARIS”.
Operating through the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, CHARIS was established to help bring together the various Catholic Charismatic groups around the world and to affirm their place within the universal Church – not as a separate entity. Pope Francis has previously said that CCR is not just a movement, but a “stream of grace” called to revitalise the whole Church through its prayer groups, communities, schools of evangelisation, ministries, publishing houses and media channels.
As an integral part of the life of the Church, the Pope called on CCR groups around the world to focus on three things: 1) encouraging a baptism in the Holy Spirit to the whole Church; 2) reaching out to all Christians whatever their denomination and to befriend and know them, and; 3) undertaking outreach to the poor.
These three things will form the mandate of this newly formed team which is comprised of CCR representatives from across Victoria, including representatives from the Disciples of Jesus, the Community of the Risen Lord, Spiritual Renewal Ministry, the CCR Community of the Diocese of Sale, the Holy Spirit Freedom Community, the Catholic Croatian Community, the Indonesian Community, the CCR Community of the Diocese of Sandhurst and the CCR Community from the Archdiocese of Melbourne.
