Behind religion, there are many conflicts that follow. With different religions, come different perspectives and opposing viewpoints as a result of the religions being different. However, opposites in opinions are not limited to different religions alone, many times it is within one's one religion. This is why I decided to conduct research on the Roman Catholic Church and the Charismatic Catholic Renewal. I wanted to know what catholics thought about the movement,what the movement itself was really about, and what this movement could mean for the Catholic Church.

For my interview, I decided to probe the mind of a devout catholic woman, who also happens to be my aunt-Marilyn Webb.Marilyn is in her early thirties, a wife and mother of 3 young girls, an active member of parish council, and has attended a charismatic catholic prayer meeting.

Growing up with a Filipino Catholic mother and African American father who showed no real acceptence of religion, Webb attended mass regularly throughout her childhood and adolesence.Like other young catholics she made her first communion, gave her first confession as a young child, and made her confirmation at 13.She always knew about being a catholic but she had not yet become aware of what charismatic catholisim was.

Frowning, she told me that it was only during her college years that Webb says she ' like most young adults had strayed a bit from the path of the Lord ' and started to experiment with other denominations of the Christian faith. She wanted to see what other types of faiths were out in the world, but she still had a very deep passion for the religion.She attended services with her then future husband's Baptist family, and experienced a very different type of worship than the quiet traditional masses of the church she was born into.

A few short years later, she returned to the catholic faith with a renewed fervor for love of the Lord. She became returned to the church that she " grew up in" and became a member of parish council. As a member of the council, and a member of the church who is respected and well loved in the church, the issue of the charismatic catholic is very important to Webb. She is a supporter of the movement and says that she has personally experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit in her life and believes that God has indeed given each of us gifts.

I wondered if it was her experience of being in Baptist churches that allowed her tolerance of a different way of worship, and she says that it was exactly that. Se felt that it was looking into the other faith that helped to strengthen her own faith. She told me of an instance in her life when God allowed her to speak in tounges, and that she has seen others do it as well. Webb informs me that the reasons that catholics tend to reject the charismatic catholic renewal is because they don't wish to stray away from the traditional masses. Traditional catholics see it as taking away from the mass, or being a distraction, if someone suddently catches the Holy Spirit during mass. There are also catholics who are very skeptical about the renewal and they believe that it might be taking away from the importance of the mass and even the meaning of the mass itself.

Snap! Snap! Snaaap!: Interview Photos

Believed by Catholics to be a powerful instrument of prayer,many meditate in prayer through their rosaries during times of great distress, such as making decisions about charismatic catholism.


A snapshot of the church-now in its 65th year of ministry.The church is home to many catholics who share either mixed feelings about charismatic catholics, resistence to the movement, or acceptence of charismatic catholics.





Marilyn Webb, a leading council member of Holy Family Catholic Church, gives a soft smile for the camera during the interview.