After the Second Vatican Council

The Charismatic Movement which originated in the Catholic Church in 1967 found in the founding persons of FIAT (Cardinal Suenens, Veronica O’Brien, Yvette Dubois) an enthusiastic reception; and it has helped them to express their faith in the language of praise, in the exercise of the charisma and of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Cardinal Suenens received from Pope Paul VI the role of Cardinal-Protector of that new movement, and he was instrumental in keeping that Renewal Movement within the Church.
For the Cardinal, however, the Charismatic Renewal was not just a movement within the Church, but a moment for the Church in the life of the Spirit. For that reason the Cardinal paid special attention to those elements which were less developed in the beginning of the Charismatic Movement, more particularly the role of Mary and the special role of the episcopal hierarchy in Catholic charismatic groups.

In order to illuminates those aspects, he asked representatives of the Charismatic Movement to come to Brussels, to discuss thoroughly the place of Catholics in ecumenical groups.

The so called Documents of Malines were the result of those efforts.