Pope John Paul II sent a message to all the Movements on their arrival to the Congress.

"What is meant today by “movement”? The term is often used to refer to realities that differ among themselves, sometimes even by reason of their canonical structure. If, on the one hand, that structure certainly cannot exhaust or capture the wealth of forms produced by the life-giving creativity of Christ’s Spirit, on the other, it indicates a concrete ecclesial reality with predominantly lay membership, a faith journey and Christian witness which bases its own pedagogical method on a precise charism given to the person of the founder in specific circumstances and ways."

Pope John Paul II's Speech to the Ecclessial Movements and New Communities in St. Peter's Square on May 27, 1998.

"The passage from the original charism to the movement happens through the mysterious attraction that the founder holds for all those who become involved in his spiritual experience. In this way movements officially recognized by ecclesiastical authority offer themselves as forms of self-fulfilment and as reflections of the one Church."

Bishop Stanislaw Rylko, Opening talk of the Seminar

"In communicating a movement's charism, its founder has an irreplaceable role. John Paul II explains it in this way: 'The passage from the original charism to the movement happens through the mysterious attraction that the founder holds for all those who become involved in his spiritual experience'. The founder is the pivot of the life of every movement, because he/she is the bearer of the original chrism from which it is born and through which it lives. As the founder gradually discovers the various dimensions of the charism, he/she indicates the goals to be reached and defines methods and organizational structures. From the founder's special position springs his/her spiritual paternity/maternity and the authority - unique of its kind - that he/she exerts over the movement's members." page 29

Fidel Gonzalez Fernandez, MCCI, Charisms and Movements in the History of the Church

"So unity does not exclude variety; it does not preclude each persons having a style of his own. Moreover, the personal temperaments and the circumstances of the life of each founder (place of birth, teachers, education received, friends) have an influence on the way he/she experiences and enacts the charism of God." Page 74

Gianfranco Ghirlanda, S.J. on the fundamental Criterion for the Bishop's Discernment of the Ecclesiality of the Charism

"So the discernment in question is focused on the spiritual doctrine proposed and the spiritual practice enacted. This is inseparably bound up with the circumstances in which the movement arose and its history as well as with the life of its founder/foundress.", p.206

Above quotes are taken from the book, "The Ecclesial Movements in the Pastoral Concern of the Bishops"

The following two Publications are available from the Pontifical Council for the Laity

"Movements in the Church", Publication 2 of the "Laity Today" Collection. Proceedings of the World Congress of the Ecclesial Movements, Rome, 27-29 May 1998, Vatican City 1999. 10 Euros, Available in English and Italian only.

"The Ecclesial Movements in the Pastoral Concern of the Bishops", Publication 4 of the "Laity Today" Collection. Vatican City 2000, 10 Euros, Available in English, Spanish, French, and Italian

These books can be ordered through the Pontifical Council for the Laity below

Click here to order books

Pope Benedict sends a Message to the Participants on May 22, 2006, a week before the Congress begins./div>