Pentecostalism: A Challenge to the Historical Churches. In the coming years, the ecumenical agenda of the Church will absolutely have to confront the challenge made by the expansion of the Pentecostal …More
Pentecostalism: A Challenge to the Historical Churches.
In the coming years, the ecumenical agenda of the Church will absolutely have to confront the challenge made by the expansion of the Pentecostal movement. Prof. Paolo Naso, who teaches at the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies of Religions and Cultures at the Pontifical Gregorian University (ISIRC), is convinced of it.
Speaking April 12th, in the course organized by the ISIRC with the tile of “Conversion. Change of God? Experiences and reflections on the interreligious dialogue”, Prof. Naso, also a professor of Political Science at La Sapienza University of Rome, spoke of this movement, born in the American Protestant context in the very first years of the of the 1900’s which has spread like wildfire.
Currently, there are 470 million Evangelical Pentecostal Christians, and they are set, within a short while, to exceed half of a billion believers. But what is striking is their rate of growth: if in 1970 the Pentecostals only constituted 6.4% of the total number of Christians, presently they are about 25% - therefore, at least one Christian out of four belongs to this particular faith community – and it is calculated that in 2025 they will be more than 32%.
The Pentecostal movement, with a strong messianic emphasis, is focused mainly on the religious experience of “speaking in tongues” – which consists in emitting a series of sounds or words which do not correspond to any known language – and on miraculous healings often staged as true and proper performances.
In 1972, the Catholic Church launched “discussions” of a doctrinal nature with some Pentecostal Churches, the results of which however do not always arrive at the foundations of the faith community.
But what makes Pentecostalism such a success?
Paolo Naso, professor of Political Science: “Undoubtedly, the charismatic experience has a great symbolic density: the Pentecostal speaks in tongues. Therefore, he has a distinctive mark of faith; the Pentecostal Church is a light church, transportable – the sociologists tell us this – it does not need big apparatuses. Pentecostalism is a very welcoming faith community, capable of embracing even people who have come from very troubled walks of life. And, finally, all summed up, becoming Pentecostal is a profoundly gratifying experience from the point of view of the stability of one’s own psychology. We meet a community of faith which is very warm and inviting and, in a way, protective.”
And the numbers speak clearly, above all in Latin America and Africa. In Brazil, for example, today we are witnessing a real Pentecostal boom, so much so that they constitute 15.6% of the inhabitants of the South American giant, while it is calculated that in 2045 they will be more than half.
It is a phenomenon to be held ever more in consideration, in light of the shifting center of gravity of Christianity in the Southern world.
Paolo Naso, professor of Political Science: “In the face of this, then, we must think of Pentecostalism as an emerging phenomenon, very important and, I would say, typical of postmodern religiosity, or, that is, of a religiosity which is not based so much on dogmas, on structures, on exterior forms, but above all on the fluidity of spiritual experience. In short, in the coming decades, this is the forecast: we will hear Pentecostalism spoken of with great interest, with great vivacity and, obviously the historical churches will have to be ready for the challenge of the confrontation and dialogue with this faith community.”
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In the coming years, the ecumenical agenda of the Church will absolutely have to confront the challenge made by the expansion of the Pentecostal movement. Prof. Paolo Naso, who teaches at the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies of Religions and Cultures at the Pontifical Gregorian University (ISIRC), is convinced of it.
Speaking April 12th, in the course organized by the ISIRC with the tile of “Conversion. Change of God? Experiences and reflections on the interreligious dialogue”, Prof. Naso, also a professor of Political Science at La Sapienza University of Rome, spoke of this movement, born in the American Protestant context in the very first years of the of the 1900’s which has spread like wildfire.
Currently, there are 470 million Evangelical Pentecostal Christians, and they are set, within a short while, to exceed half of a billion believers. But what is striking is their rate of growth: if in 1970 the Pentecostals only constituted 6.4% of the total number of Christians, presently they are about 25% - therefore, at least one Christian out of four belongs to this particular faith community – and it is calculated that in 2025 they will be more than 32%.
The Pentecostal movement, with a strong messianic emphasis, is focused mainly on the religious experience of “speaking in tongues” – which consists in emitting a series of sounds or words which do not correspond to any known language – and on miraculous healings often staged as true and proper performances.
In 1972, the Catholic Church launched “discussions” of a doctrinal nature with some Pentecostal Churches, the results of which however do not always arrive at the foundations of the faith community.
But what makes Pentecostalism such a success?
Paolo Naso, professor of Political Science: “Undoubtedly, the charismatic experience has a great symbolic density: the Pentecostal speaks in tongues. Therefore, he has a distinctive mark of faith; the Pentecostal Church is a light church, transportable – the sociologists tell us this – it does not need big apparatuses. Pentecostalism is a very welcoming faith community, capable of embracing even people who have come from very troubled walks of life. And, finally, all summed up, becoming Pentecostal is a profoundly gratifying experience from the point of view of the stability of one’s own psychology. We meet a community of faith which is very warm and inviting and, in a way, protective.”
And the numbers speak clearly, above all in Latin America and Africa. In Brazil, for example, today we are witnessing a real Pentecostal boom, so much so that they constitute 15.6% of the inhabitants of the South American giant, while it is calculated that in 2045 they will be more than half.
It is a phenomenon to be held ever more in consideration, in light of the shifting center of gravity of Christianity in the Southern world.
Paolo Naso, professor of Political Science: “In the face of this, then, we must think of Pentecostalism as an emerging phenomenon, very important and, I would say, typical of postmodern religiosity, or, that is, of a religiosity which is not based so much on dogmas, on structures, on exterior forms, but above all on the fluidity of spiritual experience. In short, in the coming decades, this is the forecast: we will hear Pentecostalism spoken of with great interest, with great vivacity and, obviously the historical churches will have to be ready for the challenge of the confrontation and dialogue with this faith community.”
www.unigre.it