'He sensed we were living in an extraordinary time of the Holy Spirit' Michelle Moran remembers Pope Francis

Michelle Moran, who was personally appointed by Pope Francis in 2016 to help establish CHARIS, shares her memories of meeting and working alongside Pope Francis in a memorable era for the "current of grace."

Having served under 3 Popes during my time with ICCRS. I can say without doubt that, once Pope Francis was elected, everyone who worked in the Vatican had to adjust to the fact that ‘Pope Francis does things in a different way’.

My first private audience with Pope Francis was a few months after he was elected in the summer of 2013. I had flown back from Australia for the appointment and arrived directly with him. I apologised for my rather casual attire (not realising he was going to abolish the previous dress code ie women usually dressed in black often with head covering). To my surprise, he was more concerned for me having jet lag just come from a long- haul flight. He was always quick to enter into the world of all those he met and very at ease with people.

I was in several private audiences often with a couple of his Argentinian friends. They would speak Spanish, and I could generally follow, but I did not have the ability to say anything. At some point, he would always switch to English and ask me what I thought about the topics we were discussing, even though in the early years his English wasn’t good. He was always keen to involve every person in the conversation and listen to what people wanted to share.

In April 2016 in a private meeting, he shared with us that he sensed that we were living in an extraordinary time of the Holy Spirit. A time when we were seeing the Holy Spirit move very quickly. I think this guided some of his discernment as he tried to lead the Church forward.

When CHARIS was inaugurated in 2019, Pope Francis said: "Today one thing ends and another begins. A new stage of this journey is beginning. A stage marked by communion between all the members of the charismatic family, in which the mighty presence of the Holy Spirit is manifested for the good of the entire Church. A presence that makes each one equal, since each has been born of the same Spirit: great and small, old and young, engaged on the worldwide or local levels, all form a whole that is always greater than the part."