How did it all begin?

A period of changes

In the nineteen seventies our society went through a reassessment of its moral, social and religious values. A new world came about. The values promoted were marked by individualism, a desire for freedom and even a wish for liberation from traditional frameworks. At the same time, the Catholic Church decided to convene Vatican Council II (1962-1965). Bishops from all over the world met in Rome to take time to think about and give concrete answers to contemporary world questions.
 

New communities

Before and after the Council, new community initiatives appeared in the Catholic Church. Movements and new communities sprang up: Schönstatt (1917), Cursillos (1939), Foccolari (1942), Communione e Liberazione, the Neo-Catechumenal Way, etc. These communities created unexpected forms of Christian life, holiness and mission. Such movements are made up of lay people (married or single), and not only of priests or consecrated men and women, as was generally the case before. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal, starting from 1967, developed as a key trend, giving rise to a great number of communities.

The origins of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal

The Charismatic Renewal appeared in the Catholic Church in the USA in 1967. Pierre Goursat heard about it through a Canadian priest, Fr Regimbald, in December 1971. He became enthusiastic about it and told it to a friend of his, Fr Caffarel, who, at the same time, received the story of a French couple, Xavier and Brigitte Le Pichon who experienced the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the USA.

On 11 February 1972, forty people gathered to hear this story along with a few explanations. Most of them then asked for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This was a grace given by the Holy Spirit to experience the closeness of God, how loving He is and how He acts in our lives. Such a grace transformed their lives: from this experience, they felt a new desire to read the Bible, to receive the sacraments, to change their life and to proclaim the Gospel.

The birth of the Emmanuel Community

Among those people were Pierre Goursat, aged 57 at that time, and a young hospital intern, Martine Laffite Catta. From that evening on, they recognized each other as brother and sister, called to start something about which they did not know anything yet... The Emmanuel Community was born, but it still had no name. They began to pray together every day. Later on, they invited a few other people to come and pray with them in Paris, in the graces of the Renewal. In the beginning, there were five of them. One year later, they had grown to 500 !

This “prayer group” was soon split in two. It later grew to four big prayer groups.

In such prayer groups, the lives of many persons were transformed. Some of them desired to go forward in their commitment. They began to gather regularly. The name of “Emmanuel” was chosen to keep the unity and to refer to the newly born community.