The spirit gives new gifts according to the needs of time and place, says the Pope in his weekly catechesis

This is the catechesis which the Pope gave during the General Audience on 27 February.

1. We concluded the preceding catechesis [6 February] with a text of the Second Vatican Council which we must take as our starting point for the present catechesis. In the constitution Lumen Gentium we read: "The Holy Spirit dwells in the Church and in the hearts of the faithful as in a temple (cf. I Cor 3:16; 6:19). In them he prays and bears witness to their adoption as sons and daughters (cf. Gal 4:6; Rom 8:15-16, 26). Guiding the Church in the way of all truth (cf. Jn 16:13) and unifying her in communion and in the works of ministry, he bestows upon her varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her; and he adorns her with his fruits (cf. Eph 4:11-12); I Cor 12:4; Gal 5:22)" (Lumen Gentium, 4).

After having spoken in the preceding catechesis about the Church's ministerial structure which is inspired and sustained by the Holy Spirit, we are now going to discuss, following the council's line of thought, the spiritual gifts and charisms given to the Church by the Dator munerum, the giver of gifts, as the Spirit is called in the Pentecost Sequence.

2. Here also we can draw upon the Letters of St Paul for the doctrine to explain it synthetically as is required by catechesis. In the First Letter to the Corinthians we read: "There are different gifts but the same Spirit; there are different ministries but the same Lord; there are different works but the same God who accomplishes all of them in everyone" (I Cor 12:4-6). The fact that in these verses the diversity of charisms is placed together with the diversity of ministries and works suggests to us that the Holy Spirit is the one who gives a multiform wealth of gifts which accompanies the ministries and the life of faith, charity, community and fraternal collaboration of the faithful, as is already seen in the story of the apostles and the first Christian communities.

St Paul pauses to emphasize the multiplicity of gifts: "To one the Spirit gives wisdom in discourse, to another the power to express knowledge. Through the Spirit one receives faith; by the same Spirit another is given the gift of healing, and still another miraculous powers. Prophecy is given to one;... One receives the gift of tongues" (I Cor 12:8-10). Here we must note that the apostle's list is not meant to be exhaustive: Paul is indicating the gifts which were particularly significant for the Church at that time, gifts which were still manifested in later eras, but without limiting, neither at the beginning nor later, all of the room available for the ever new charisms which the Holy Spirit can give in response to new needs. Therefore, "to each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good" (I Cor 12:7); when new demands and new problems arise for the "community", the history of the Church reveals the presence of new gifts.

3. In any case, whatever type of gift it may be, even when it seems primarily to serve the person who is given it (for example in "glossolalia" which the apostle speaks about [cf. I Cor 14:5-18]), they all merge together in some way for the common good; they serve to build up "a Body": "It was in one Spirit that all of us, ...were baptized into one body. All of us have been given to drink of the one Spirit" (I Cor 12:13). Hence Paul's recommendation to the Corinthians: "Since you have set your hearts on spiritual gifts, try to be rich in those that build up the Church" (I Cor 14:12). In the same context we find the exhortation to "seek... the gift of prophecy" (I Cor 14:1), which is more "useful" to the community than that of tongues. "Whoever speaks in a tongue is talking not to people but to God. No one understands him because he utters mysteries in the Spirit. The prophet on the other hand, speaks to people for their upbuilding, their encouragement, their consolation. He ...builds up the Church" (I Cor 14:2-3).

Evidently Paul prefers the "edifying" charisms, we could say those of the apostolate. However, above all the gifts he recommends that which is even more useful for the common good: "Seek eagerly after love" (I Cor 14:1). Fraternal charity, rooted in the love of God, is the "more perfect way" which Paul insists on and exalts in a hymn of great lyrical power and sublime spirituality (cf. I Cor 13:1-3).

4. In the Constitution on the Church the Second Vatican Council takes up Paul's teaching on the spiritual gifts, and especially on the charisms, in order to specify them: "These charismatic gifts, whether they be the most outstanding or the more simple and widely diffused, are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation, for they are exceedingly suitable and useful for the needs of the Church. Still, extraordinary gifts are not to be rashly sought after, nor are the fruits of apostolic labour to be presumptuously expected from them. In any case, judgement as to their genuineness and proper use belongs to those who preside over the Church, and to whose special competence it belongs, not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to that which is good (cf. I Thes 5:12, 19:21)" (Lumen Gentium, 12). This is a text filled with pastoral wisdom, and it is entirely in line with the recommendations and norms which, as we have seen, St Paul gave the Corinthians in order to help them to a proper understanding of charisms and the necessary discernment of the true gifts of the Spirit.

According to the council, among the charisms special importance is given to those that serve the fullness of the spiritual life, especially those which are expressed in the various forms of "consecrated" life according to the evangelical counsels which the Holy Spirit has always raised up among the faithful. In the constitution Lumen Gentium we read: "The evangelical counsels of chastity dedicated to God, poverty and obedience are based upon the words and examples of the Lord. They were further commended by the apostles and the Fathers, and other teachers and shepherds of the Church. The counsels are a divine gift, which the Church has received from her Lord and which she ever preserves with the help of his grace. Church authority has the duty under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of interpreting these evangelical counsels, of regulating their practice, and finally of establishing stable forms of living according to them.... The religious state... shows to all people the surpassing greatness of the force of Christ the King and the boundless power of the Holy Spirit wonderfully at work within the Church. Although the religious state constituted by the profession of the evangelical counsels does not belong to the hierarchical structure of the Church, nevertheless it belongs inseparably to her life and holiness.... Submissively following the promptings of the Holy Spirit, the hierarchy also endorses rules formulated by eminent men and women, and authentically approves them" (Lumen Gentium 43-45).

This concept of the religious state as a work of the Holy Spirit is especially important; through it the Third Person of the Trinity almost makes visible the activity which he performs in the entire Church in order to lead the faithful to the perfection of charity.

 5. It is also legitimate to recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit at work in the efforts of all those—bishops, priests, deacons and lay men and women of all types—who try to live the Gospel in their own state of life. It is a matter of "various orders", as the council put it (Lumen Gentium, 13) which all manifest the "multiform grace of God". What counts for everyone is that "as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another" (I Pt 4:10). The communion of the Church is a result of the abundance and variety of gifts; she is one and universal in the variety of peoples, traditions, vocations and spiritual experiences.

The Spirit's action is manifested and at work in the multiplicity and richness of the charisms which accompany the ministries in the various forms and degrees required by the needs of time and place: for example, in helping the poor, the sick, the unfortunate, the handicapped or those suffering from various types of disability; or, on a still higher level, in counsel, spiritual direction, making peace between opposing factions, conversion of sinners, drawing people to the word of God, the efficacy of preaching and writing, teaching the faith, encouraging people to do good, etc. There is an enormous range of charisms through which the Holy Spirit shares his charity and holiness with the Church, similar to the general economy of creation in which, as St Thomas observes, the one divine Being gives things a share in his infinite perfection (cf. Summa Theologiæ , II-II, q. 183, a. 2).

6. These charisms are not in contrast with the hierarchical nature of the ministries and, in general, with the "offices" which were also established for the unity, proper functioning and beauty of the Church. The hierarchical order and the entire ministerial structure of the Church is also under the action of the charisms, as is pointed out by the words of Paul in his letter to Timothy: "Do not neglect the gift you received when, as a result of prophecy, the presbyters laid their hands on you." (I Tim 4:14); "I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God bestowedwhen my hands were laid on you" (II Tim 1:6).

There is, therefore, the charism of Peter, there are the charisms proper to bishops, priests and deacons; there is a charism granted to whoever is called to assume an ecclesiastical office, a ministry. It is a question of discovering and recognizing these charisms and of supporting them, but without presumption. Therefore the apostle writes to the Corinthians: "I do not want to leave you in ignorance about spiritual gifts" (I Cor 12:1). And then Paul begins his instruction on the charisms in order to give some instructions about behaviour to the converts of Corinth who, when they were still pagans, let themselves be "led astray to mute idols, as impulse" drove them (improper behaviour which they now had to avoid). "That is why I tell you... that no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit" (I Cor 12:3). This is a truth which, together with that of the Trinity, is fundamental for the Christian faith. The profession of faith in this truth is a gift of the Holy Spirit; therefore it is an act far greater than an act of purely human knowledge. In this act of faith, which is and must be on the lips and in the hearts of all true believers, the Holy Spirit "is manifest" (cf. I Cor 12:7). This is the first and most basic fulfilment of what Jesus said at the Last Supper: "He (the Holy Spirit) will give glory to me, because he will have received from me what he will announce to you" (Jn 16:14).