Ralph C. Martin is a professor at

Sacred Heart Major Seminary Sacred Heart Major Seminary is a private Roman Catholic seminary in Detroit, Michigan. It is affiliated with the Archdiocese of Detroit. In 2016–2017, 107 seminarians, representing eleven dioceses and two religious orders were enrolled in cla ...

and was involved in the early Catholic charismatic renewal as founder of the

Word of God (community) The Word of God is an ecumenical, charismatic, missionary Christian community in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The community began in 1967.Bord & Faulkner. 1983. ''The Catholic charismatics''. Pennsylvania State University Press. p. 11. Origins 1967-1976 ...

and cofounder of the

Sword of the Spirit The Sword of the Spirit is an international, ecumenical association of Christian communities within the charismatic movement. As of 2017, the Sword of the Spirit is composed of 82 communities, 45 of which are Catholic. The member communities ar ...

association of covenant communities.

Biography

Martin was raised Catholic, but having fallen away from religion as a youth, he was reconverted to Catholicism by a

Cursillo ''Cursillos in Christianity'' (, "Short courses of Christianity") is an apostolic movement of the Catholic Church. It was conceived in Spain between 1940 and 1949 and began with the celebration of the so-called "first course" from January 7 to 10, ...

retreat he attended as a college student. Martin and Stephen B. Clark, who would also become a leader in the charismatic renewal, worked for the National Secretariat of the Cursillo from 1965 to 1970. During a Cursillo retreat in 1966, Martin and Clark recommended ''

The Cross and the Switchblade ''The Cross and the Switchblade'' is a autobiographical book written by the Rev. David Wilkerson with John and Elizabeth Sherrill, published by Bernard Geis Associates in 1963. Summary In 1958, Pentecostal pastor David Wilkerson of Assembli ...

'' to certain retreatants from

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( ; also known as Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a Private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of ...

. The book inspired one of these retreatants, Ralph W. Keifer, along with history professor William G. Storey, to lead a retreat on the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

for Duquesne students. This retreat, the Duquesne Weekend, in turn spawned the Catholic charismatic renewal, through which Martin was soon baptized in the Holy Spirit. Martin and Clark then began hosting prayer meetings in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which would eventually spawn the Word of God community. Martin was invited to Belgium by Cardinal

Leo Joseph Suenens Leo Jozef Suenens ( ) (16 July 1904 – 6 May 1996) was a Belgian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels from 1961 to 1979. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1962. Suenens was a leading voice at the Second Vatican ...

to help jumpstart the Catholic charismatic renewal in Europe. In 2011,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

appointed Martin to a five-year term as a consultor to the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. Martin is currently the president of Renewal Ministries, and lives in Ann Arbor with his wife, Anne.

Selected works

* ''A Crisis Of Truth'' (Servant Books, 1982) * ''The Fulfillment of All Desire'' (Emmaus Road Publishing, 2006) * ''Will Many Be Saved?: What Vatican II Actually Teaches and Its Implications for the New Evangelization'' (

Eerdmans William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company is a religious publishing house based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1911 by Dutch American William B. Eerdmans and still independently owned with William's daughter-in-law Anita Eerdmans as presid ...

, 2012) * ''A Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward'' (Emmaus Road Publishing, 2020)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Ralph C. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Roman Catholics American male non-fiction writers American religious writers American Roman Catholic writers University of Notre Dame alumni