Hispanic Charismatic Renewal draws Archbishop Lori to Baltimore formation session 

En español

LANSDOWNE – Spirited music could be heard from the parking lot of Sisters Academy of Baltimore in Lansdowne May 2 as almost 100 lay leaders from parishes across Maryland involved in the Hispanic Charismatic Renewal Movement welcomed Archbishop William E. Lori, who attended one of their formation sessions for the first time. 

The Hispanic Catholic Charismatic Renewal is an ecclesial movement drawing many Latinos to their spirituality and providing a sense of community for Latino immigrants. It encourages baptized Catholics to deepen their faith and cultivate a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit.

The movement, which has swept across the nation especially among Hispanic communities, has grown significantly in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. In the last 20 years, as immigration has increased in the region, almost a dozen more groups have popped up in parishes in the state, according to Deacon Juan Orlando Beltrán. 

“It started with about maybe 10, 15 people per community, but now it’s grown to more than 100 people per group,” said Beltran, one of four deacons Archbishop Lori appointed to guide the Hispanic Charismatic Renewal two years ago. The people joining the movement are mostly immigrants who feel a need for God in their lives, he added. 

The group welcomed the opportunity to hear from Archbishop Lori following an archdiocesan intervention in September, when some leadership changes were made and events were paused as part of a period of discernment and reorganization.

Archbishop Lori, speaking in Spanish, highlighted the importance of the intervention, mentioning that decisions have not been easy.

“They have required prayer, discernment and, in many cases, courage,” he said. “Every step has been taken seeking the good of the movement, the good of the Church and the good of each one of you.”

Leadership in the church is “not improvised,” the archbishop said. 

“Leadership requires integral formation, formation in the faith, formation in doctrine, human formation and spiritual formation,” he said. “It is not enough to have enthusiasm or charisma, we also need formation to be able to serve well.” 

José Soto, national coordinator of the Hispanic Charismatic Renewal Movement, presented the material at the event, highlighting the importance of standardizing how lay leaders in the movement teach and organize events across the country.

“A lot of dioceses had some materials, others created their own materials and others did not have anything,” Soto said. “We decided to bring these modules for growth so that there is a uniformity in the vocabulary and the information so that we can have a mature renewal with better growth and, above all, where we are all working toward the same goal.” 

Lia Garcia, director of Hispanic Ministry for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said about 250 lay leaders have been gathering monthly since January for formation sessions held across the archdiocese in collaboration with the national Hispanic Charismatic Renewal Movement.

The new formation manuals distributed during the May 2 gathering will help align the groups in the archdiocese with the materials used in many dioceses and created by the national team. Garcia said they are “for those who want to continue learning about the Charismatic movement, about the Church and those who want to be more involved in their parish prayer groups.”

The archdiocese sought a more holistic approach, Garcia explained, one that covers all of the basics as instructed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. 

“We wanted to incorporate moral formation, spiritual formation, ethical formation, catechesis, so that our leaders are very better prepared when they’re serving in their parishes,” said Garcia, noting that the formation previously used focused on the spirituality of the charismatic movement.

“This new formation that we’re offering them has opened up other possibilities as well for them to learn more about other types of spiritualities, other ethical things that they need to know about the human person,” Garcia explained. “And so it’s more well rounded, I would say.”

Soto, along with many of the lay leaders present, believes Archbishop Lori’s attendance and support at the event was a sign of support for their work in the Catholic Church. 

“It was a blessing, and above all, it was letting lay leaders know that there is a priest, a bishop, a pastor who is with them,” said Soto, praising the archbishop for taking time in his busy schedule and speaking to them in Spanish. 

Nain Martinez from St. Timothy in Walkerville said he was grateful the archbishop heard directly from the community. He noted that he was “born in the faith.”

“I’m Charismatic,” he said, “but first of all, I’m Catholic.” 

Others at Saturday’s session said they have at times encountered questions or uncertainty about their work.

“We sometimes feel we aren’t making ourselves understood,” said Lourdes Magaña, a lay leader who drove from St. John in Frederick with her husband, Edgar. “We are a group that evangelizes by working with the church,” Edgar Magaña added. 

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