What does a charismatic do with 160 million Roman Catholics? Whilst that may sound like the start of a joke, it is actually an important question. It is a question posed by the existence of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, a movement within the church of Rome purported to comprise some 160 million members in 2013, and which practices the charismatic gifts of prophecy, healing and tongues. The dilemma which this movement presents for charismatics arises from two issues; firstly the charismatic propensity of making the outward manifestation of the supernatural gifts the sure evidence of the infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit, and secondly the existence of those same supposed gifts within the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
