I. Charism - La Salle.org

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III. CHARISM IN THE CHURCH
announce the Gospel to them and to bring them up in the spirit of
religion (MTR 201.1).
De La Salle anticipates Vatican II’s understanding of charism, vocation,
and ministry in the Church: “Meditations for the Time of
Retreat questions the educator at the very heart of a spiritual way of
life: the fulfilment of the ecclesial charism received for the benefit
of the body of Christ growing up in the world.” 9
In the twentieth century, charism appears frequently in religion,
sociology, politics, popular culture, the arts, and business. Catholic
Church documents use the word charism with greater frequency.
Two events in the first half of the twentieth century increase the
usage of the word charism: the emergence of Pentecostalism in
Europe and North America in the early 1900s and the publication
in 1922 of Max Weber’s sociological theory of traditional, rational,
and charismatic authority. 10
Pope Pius XII, in his encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi (The
Mystical Body of Christ), 29 June 1943, highlights two expressions
of charism whose interaction and equilibrium will preoccupy clergy
and laity for decades to come: “hierarchical elements and charismatic
gifts” (Nº 64). 11 The pope’s use of the term charismatic indicates
his interest in the concept. In Europe at that time, the
Catholic Action movement and the emergence of Christian
Democratic political parties offer laypeople many opportunities to
engage in political activity by using their God-given talents and
charisms. Pius XII develops the theme of “charismatic gifts and
hierarchical elements” in the Church:
9
De La Salle, Meditations, Landover, MD: Christian Brothers Conference, 1994, p. 431.
10
Die protestantische Ethik und der “Geist” des Kapitalismus, 1905; Die drei reinen Typen der legitimen
Herrschaft, 1922.
11
The excerpts from papal documents, from the Second Vatican Council, and from Vatican
Congregations are taken from the English translations on the Vatican Web site www.vatican.va.