At its Fall 2018 meeting in Baltimore, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) appointed Archbishop Cordileone as Chairman of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth. Archbishop Cordileone will serve as chairman-elect for one year shadowing the current chairman before assuming the role for a three-year term of office.

Last October in Rome, the Dycastery for Laity, Family, and Life announced that on December 8, 2018, the Holy See will erect a body providing a new, single, international service for the needs of Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the Church (CHARIS). The creation of the body was at the request of Pope Francis, a support body integrated in the church to operate in favor of all expressions of the current of grace that is Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR). CHARIS will act in the name of the Church in serving all the expressions of Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

CHARIS as a support body will not exercise any authority over local Catholic Charismatic Renewal programs who will remain under their local Bishop. However local CCR will be able to benefit freely from the many services CHARIS will provide as providing services is CHARIS' fundamental objective. CHARIS will come into full operation on June 9, 2019 at the Solemnity of Pentecost. It is important to note that CHARIS is a service body, not a governance body. Its focus is to promote and strengthen relationships among all Charismatic realities, fostering a sense of the worldwide family of Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

The General Objectives of CHARIS are:

A. To help deepen and promote the grace of baptism in the Holy Spirit throughout the Church;

B. To promote the exercise of charisms not only in Catholic Charismatic renewal but also in the whole Church;

C. To encourage the spiritual deepening and holiness of people who live the experience of baptism in the Holy Spirit;

D. To encourage commitment to evangelization, particularly through the new evangelization and the evangelization of culture, while respecting religious freedom;

E. To encourage cooperation between communities born from Catholic Charismatic Renewal, with a view to making the experience of particular communities available for the good of all;

F. To promote the ecumenical dimension of Catholic Charismatic Renewal and foster the commitment to serving the unity of all Christians;

G. To identify and promote specific topics that can help deepen the grace of Pentecost;

H. To encourage networking and cooperation between realities within Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the areas of formation, evangelization etc.;

I. To promote service of the poor and social action through Catholic Charismatic Renewal;

J. To organize training and formation opportunities, according to the needs expressed by the General Assembly;

K. To enable clerics and religious to deepen their experience of Catholic Charismatic Renewal and to participate more fully in it;

L. To foster communion: among persons involved in various realties within Catholic Charismatic Renewal; with ecclesial movements that do not refer to this current of grace; and with other Christian Churches and Communities, especially those living the experience of Pentecost. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal has a rich history of praying and fostering unity among all Christians through the power of the Spirit.

M. To organize major events, colloquia, leaders' gatherings, to share and exchange the various experiences flowing from the Holy Spirit.

The eighteen members of CHARIS' International Service of Communion have been named and will assume their functions at the Solemnity of Pentecost 2019, day upon which CHARIS' statutes will come into effect.

Prior to CHARIS, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1975 established the Bishops' ad-hoc committee on the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. This committee recommended that bishops of every diocese throughout the US appoint a diocesan liaison between the Catholic Charismatic Renewal to foster the growth of prayer groups.

CHARIS, based in Rome, is at the service of Catholic Charismatic Renewal groups worldwide and is available to serve and assist bishops and priests who request its help. It is expected that with the appointment of Archbishop Cordileone to the USCCB Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, the same area that houses CHARIS, there will be a close communication with the Dycastery for the Laity, Family and Life in Rome.

The Archdiocese of San Francisco has a vibrant Catholic Charismatic Renewal Community that can be served and serve CHARIS. Oversight for the Catholic Charismatic Communities in the Archdiocese is a Liaison, Fr. Ray Reyes, who reports directly to the Archbishop and who is assisted by a two Associate Liaisons, Fr Angel Quitalig, and Deacon Ernie von Emster.

Serving with the Liaison and Associate Liaisons is a fifteen-member Renewal Board comprised of leaders from various prayer groups who meet regularly to plan Archdiocese sponsored Life in the Spirit Seminars, First Friday Masses and the annual Holy Spirit Convention that was initiated by the Archdiocese over twenty - two years ago. The role and focus of the Charismatic Board is to encourage and support ministries of the Renewal.

There are thirty-six Charismatic prayer communities throughout the Archdiocese of San Francisco. These Communities are linguistically and culturally diverse with the largest segment being the Filipino Catholic Charismatic Communities (FCCC). The FCCC consists of parish prayer groups and trans-parochial prayer groups, those groups based in the Philippines with branches in the United States and other countries. Such trans-parochial groups include The Lord's Flock, Siloam, Elim, El Shaddai, and the Bukas Loob sa Diyos (BLD).

The remaining prayer groups are Parish Charismatic Prayer Groups in English, Spanish and a newly formed group in Chinese. Representatives from each linguistic and cultural group is represented on the Renewal Board. The annual Holy Spirit Conference is where all groups gather to collectively Praise and Worship, receive teaching, personal healing ministry and participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Holy Mass. The Charismatic Renewal is self-supporting. Income comes primarily from offerings collected at charismatic masses and individual donations.

Thirty-one years ago, the Archdiocese, through the efforts of Monsignor Tarantino then Liaison to the Renewal, initiated a coalition comprised of the seven Northern California Dioceses, Monterey, Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Rosa and Stockton. The purpose of this effort was to hold an annual Catholic Charismatic Conference. This coalition continues to exist as Northern California Renewal Conference (NCRC) and in 2019 it will hold its thirty-second convention Memorial Day weekend at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

The San Francisco Archdiocese Diocese along with the Oakland Diocese have always been the principal dioceses involved in the Convention ministries on planning, staffing and marketing its annual gathering that draws approximately 800 - 1,000 participants.

CHARIS, based in Rome, is at the service of Catholic Charismatic Renewal groups worldwide and is available to serve and assist bishops and priests who request its help. It is expected that with the appointment of Archbishop Cordileone to the USCCB, there will be a close communication between his Committee to the Laity, Family, Marriage and Youth and the Dycastery for the Laity, Family and Life in Rome.

- Catholic News Agency posting; The USCCB autumn General Assembly in Baltimore, Md., Nov. 13, 2018

- ZENIT, CHARIS to be Created by Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life Will Service Needs of Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the Church, November 2, 2018

- International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services, CHARIS Statutes, April 6, 2018

- International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services, Questions and Answers about CHARIS, April 6, 2018

- International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services, CHARIS Statutes, April 6, 2018

- Association of Diocesan Liaisons, Origins and Roles; retrieved from, https://www.associationofdiocesanliaisons.org/origin-and-roles December 11, 2018 and Substantiated by Bishop Sam Jacobs via email communication on December 9, 2018.