Responding to the call which Pope John Paul II made in the year 2000 to all movements concerning the urgency and necessity of forming disciples in accordance with the heart of Jesus, ICCRS has developed an International Formation Project for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) based on the theology of the Holy Spirit and on Charismatic spirituality.

ICCRS has established the ICCRS International Formation Project for leaders in the CCR, strengthening the current, and raising up a new generation of leaders.

International

Because of the nature of ICCRS, the project will have an international perspective. The staff, faculty, and students, come from all parts of the world. The Leadership Formation Institutes is held in Rome, an international city and the heart of the universal Church.

Catholic

In holding Leadership Formation Institutes in Rome, ICCRS is able to expose its students to the very heart of the Catholic Church and allow the students to be plunged into the history, heritage, and culture of the universal Church. During Leadership Training Courses, ICCRS organizes a meeting with the local Bishop.

Charismatic

Each course is committed to being a truly charismatic experience. It offers sound teaching on Charismatic Renewal, practical help in exercising the charisms, and an immersion experience into a truly Charismatic lifestyle.

Leadership formation

It is a significant aspect of the Formation Project, therefore, the curriculum will include the shared wisdom of successful and experienced Charismatic Renewal leaders, practical equipping of the students, and training in key leadership issues from a multi-dimensional perspective.

Two levels of courses have already been realized:

ICCRS Leadership Training Course

A one-week course organized in different countries in collaboration with local realities

ICCRS Leadership Formation Institute

A three-week course organized in Rome

Potential Candidates are people of all ages delegated from charismatic organizations worldwide who want to spend some time of their lives being formed in leadership within the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

University of the Holy Spirit

As a response to the clear indications of the Church, ICCRS has developed a ‘dream’…to let the project of a University of the Holy Spirit – focused on the study of our faith from a pneumatological point of view – become a reality in the city of Rome.

The project is ambitious and the means to realize it – which is ICCRS – is poor and unable…
So, as Jesus in the Incarnation, even if our desire is to build a big ‘spiritual structure’, we must begin by being satisfied with a ‘stable’.

Our faithfulness to ‘little projects’ will bring us to realize, at the most opportune moment, the ‘big picture’, according to the Lord’s plans.

A third level of Formation

An academic level of formation is currently being finalized with Pontifical faculties to create a Masters in “Theology of the Holy Spirit and Charisms in the Catholic Church” – an opportunity for leaders in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal to go more in-depth into the theology of the mystery of Pentecost and have new experiences in the release of the Holy Spirit.

Sacred Scripture

“Take strength from the grace which is in Christ Jesus. Pass on to reliable people what you have heard from me through many witnesses, so that they in turn will be able to teach others.”

2 Tim 2:1-2

“What we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.”

Ps 78:3-4

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it.”

2 Tim 3:14

Magisterium

“The situation today points to an ever-increasing urgency for a doctrinal formation of the lay faithful, not simply in a better understanding which is natural to faith’s dynamism but also in enabling them to ‘give a reason for their hoping’ in view of the world and its grave and complex problems. Therefore, a systematic approach to catechesis, geared to age and the diverse situations of life, is an absolute necessity, as is a more decided Christian promotion of culture, in response to the perennial yet always new questions that concern individuals and society today.”

Christifideles Laici, 60

“…encouragement must be given to the lay associations, movements and groups, whether their aim is the practice of piety, the direct apostolate, charity and relief work, or a Christian presence in temporal matters. They will all accomplish their objectives better, and serve the Church better, if they give an important place in their internal organization and their method of action to the serious religious training of their members. In this way every association of the faithful in the Church has by definition the duty to educate in the faith.”

Catechesi Tradendae, 70

“Catechesis, which is growth in faith and the maturing of Christian life towards its fullness, is consequently a work of the Holy Spirit, a work that He alone can initiate and sustain in the Church.”

Catechesi Tradendae, 72

“Groups, associations and movements also have their place in the formation of the lay faithful. In fact they have the possibility, each with its own method, of offering a formation through a deeply shared experience in the apostolic life, as well as having the opportunity to integrate, to make concrete and specific the formation that their members receive from other persons and communities.”

Christifideles Laici, 62

“In addition to spiritual formation, a solid doctrinal instruction in theology, ethics, and philosophy adjusted to differences of age, status, and natural talents, is required. The importance of general culture along with practical and technical formation should also be kept in mind.”

Apostolicam Actuositatem, 29

Hierarchy

The Holy Father has highlighted the need for a solid and profound Christian formation, saying:

“…ICCRS will have an important part to play in bringing a mature ecclesial consciousness to the various Catholic charismatic communities in the world.”

“In our world, the faith of many is being put severely to the test and not infrequently has been worn out and suffocated. So, be warned that there is an urgent need for solid and profound Christian formation…which needs mature Christian people conscious of their baptismal identity and of their vocation and mission in the Church and in the world!… I am certain that ICCRS will have an important part to play in bringing a mature ecclesial consciousness to the various Catholic charismatic communities in the world.”

“The role of ICCRS is to coordinate and promote the exchange of experience and thinking within the worldwide catholic charismatic community.”

Message of Pope John Paul II to the participants at the Great Gathering of the Catholic Charismatic Family
Rimini, April 24th 2000

Each training event features the presence of cardinals, bishops, theologians, pioneers in the CCR and renowned charismatic leaders. The contribution of each provides a spiritual and doctrinal richness that make of courses authentic spaces of growth in the life of faith and personal lives of participants.

Among many others, we name here some of the teachers who have given their precious contribution to the ICCRS Formation Project:

• Card. Stanislaw Rylko (President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity)
• Card. James Stafford (Major Penitentiary Emeritus of the Apostolic Penitentiary, Former President of the Pountifical Council for the Laity)
• Bp. Josef Clemens (Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity)
• Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa (Preacher to the Papal Household)
• Fr. Tom Forrest (Pioneer in CCR)
• Sr. Nancy Kellar (Pioneer in CCR)
• Fr. Rufus Pereira (Former ICCRS Councillor, Exorcist)
• Charles Whitehead (Former ICCRS President)
• Allan Panozza (Former ICCRS President)
• Michelle Moran (ICCRS President)
• Oreste Pesare (ICCRS Director)
• Jim Murphy (Director of ICCRS Leadership Formation)
• Mary Healy (Chairman of the ICCRS Doctrinal Commission)