The ICCC partners with the Roman Catholic Church

NOTE: The information on this page was copied directly from the ICCC's official website. It shows the connection between the ICCC and the Roman Catholic Church.

The International Communion of Charismatic Churches, also known as I.C.C.C., was founded in 1982 and represents an inclusive coalition of national and international

ministries. The political and social agendas of the organization are being achieved through the development of national and international Christian networks and coalitions that influence the home, marketplace, and government. Currently the I.C.C.C. is represented by over 6,000 ministries with over 300 Bishops on six continents.

All I.C.C.C. member Bishops serve on the Council of Bishops and every member of the I.C.C.C. serves to make up the General Assembly.

Pictured to the immediate right of Pope Paul VI is David du Plessis, also pictured to the left of Pope Paul VI is Bishop Robert McAlister and Justus du Plessis.

In 1975 David DuPlessis (known as Mr. Pentecost) was called upon by Pope Paul VI to create and mediate the Roman Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogues. The purposes of the dialogues were to foster understanding and to create room within the Roman Catholic Churches for the many Roman Catholic members who were fleeing the Church for Pentecostal Churches and denominations. The Pope thought that by creating this partnership the Roman Catholic members would be kept in the fold.

David DuPlessis in 1976 brought into those dialogues Robert McAlister who was leading a major Pentecostal reformation in Brazil among Roman Catholics and Pentecostals alike. He was the son of the former General Superintendent of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (the Canadian branch of the Assemblies of God).

Those dialogues continued from 1976-1978 under Pope Paul VI and for a brief tenure under Pope John Paul II into 1979. Robert McAlister felt strongly that it was time for there to be a Pentecostal Bishop and his congregation was comprised of mostly former Roman Catholics. David DuPlessis recommended that McAlister seek special recognition from the Vatican to be sanctioned a bishop with special privileges to be a bridge between Rome and Pentecostal denominations.

There was a strong consensus among those involved in the dialogues that it was indeed time for such an office but for the Vatican to perform or sanction such office would create a precedence that could undo history and establish division within the Roman Church. The possible division could parallel or exceed the split between the Roman Church and the Greek Orthodox Church.

The Apostolic Counsel recommended that Robert McAlister should apply to the Anglican Church for consecration and then partner back with the Roman Church upon his acceptance by the Anglicans. The Pope then agreed that upon duly being consecrated by the Anglicans he (Pope Paul VI) would sanction McAlister as a special liaison to the Pentecostals.

In 1977 the Anglican Church rejected the appeal of McAlister to the office of the bishop citing “his emphasis on Pentecostal experience” as the reason of his rejection. It was at that time that David DuPlessis and John Meares created presbytery and went to Brazil in 1978 to ordain McAlister as a bishop. With Meares and DuPlessis themselves not being bishops the ceremony was mostly for symbol more than significance.

In late 1978 during the dialogues when Pope Paul VI heard of the ceremony, while many felt it was an insult to the Roman Catholic Church, the pope saw it as a gesture of genuine desire to identify with the historical church and he defended the actions of the three Pentecostals and called for McAlister and DuPlessis to be brought before him for commissioning as bishops of special recognition and rights thereby establishing them both as direct descendants of apostolic succession.
While this action and decision created much turmoil within the Roman Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogues the Pope’s decisive action and favorable response to the Pentecostals did indeed establish a historical tie to the papacy. Many of the Roman Catholics felt that by recognizing what appeared to be a renegade liturgy there would be a cheapening of the traditions and liturgies that were uniquely Roman Catholic Church.

To alleviate the concerns of the Roman Catholics it was determined and agreed that the Pentecostals would draw from the heritage of the “high church” but would not seek to duplicate the liturgies but rather would create their own rites and ceremonies in a way that would bring compliment and comparison to the cooperative fellowship.

On that day in 1978 as a peace gift of the Roman Catholics to the newly recognized Pentecostal bishop a purple stole was given to both Bishop DuPlessis and Bishop McAlister. In the presenting of the stole it was stated that while Roman Catholic bishops wear Roman colors to identify with the history of the Church and the blood of the martyrs, the Pentecostals would wear the Purple stole to identify with the blue of heaven and the blood of the martyrs combined thus signifying the Pentecostals having experienced “the heavenly sound.” This is why in 1986 the deep purple color was adopted as the official liturgical color of the bishop of the Pentecostal Reformation within the International Communion of Charismatic Churches.

In 1979 the dialogues continued for a brief tenure under Pope John Paul II who while being very favorable to the Pentecostal experience eventually ended the combined Apostolic Counsel as he felt the “charismatic Catholics” were abandoning The Roman Church in spite of their efforts to “create unity” and keep them within the fold. Pope John Paul II however, reaffirmed his belief that everything that came out of the dialogues was profitable and beneficial to the future of the complete church and should be preserved throughout history.

In 1981 Bishop McAlister in acting upon the recommendation of David DuPlessis consecrated John Meares as a bishop (placing him in line of succession) and the three then conferred with each other about the possibility of forming a College of Bishops to govern in Pentecostal ecclesiastical matters. The name of Earl Paulk was discussed. In 1982 acting upon that discussion Bishop Robert McAllister consecrated Earl Paulk a bishop thereby placing him in line of succession.

Bishop McAllister acting as the Primate, and Bishop Meares functioning as the Prelate then proceeded to consecrate Bishop Benson Idahosa (placing him in the line of succession) who along with Earl Paulk formed the original College of Bishops. The four of them then established the World Communion of Pentecostal Churches which would later be renamed The International Communion of Charismatic Churches. This organization was to be the fulfillment of the commissioning of Bishop McAlister by the Vatican and Pope Paul VI.

That same year they added to the College of Bishops, Bishop Harry Mushegan and Bishop Herro Blair thereby placing each of them in line of apostolic succession. As a result of the death of the Primate the Prelate Bishop John Meares was unanimously selected the new Presiding Bishop. He served until 1985 when he announced his retirement and Bishop Earl Paulk was selected the new Presiding Bishop.

During the early days of the tenure of Bishop Earl Paulk, Archbishop Benson Idahosa served as Coadjutor. From 1985-2005 Bishop Earl Paulk served as the Presiding Bishop of the College of Bishops.

In 1997 Bishop David Huskins was consecrated a bishop by Presiding Bishop Earl Paulk and Archbishop Benson Idahosa thus placing him in apostolic succession. He was later named the Vice President (Coadjutor) of the International Communion of Charismatic Churches. Upon the resignation of Archbishop Earl Paulk in 2005, Bishop David Huskins was unanimously selected the Presiding Bishop and was duly installed in February of 2006.

The International Communion of Charismatic Churches has continued to grow and expand around the globe and has recently made new strides in bridging the gap between the historical and spiritual church once again. As evidenced by the recent participation of the Monsignor of the Roman Catholic Church of Curacao in the Conference of the ICCC bishops the heritage of the Communion is in tact.