Last week’s post examined innovation as a participation in God’s creative work. As noted two weeks ago, authentic innovation is not personal creativity detached from ecclesiastical communion, and does not change doctrines or disregard canonical discipline. Instead, it discerns, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and in obedience to ecclesiastical authority, how the gospel can be proclaimed, sacraments celebrated, and the ecclesial community administered more fruitfully in concrete pastoral situations. Today’s post focuses on the Holy Spirit as the principal agent of authentic innovation.
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. In the Trinitarian communion, the Father is the creator, the Son is the redeemer, and the Holy Spirit is the sanctifier. In the context of innovation, the Father is the creator of all things, the Son is the definitive revelation, and the Holy Spirit is the agent of interpretation, renewal, and application.
The Holy Spirit made Christ present at the Incarnation (Matt 1:20, Luke 1:35), and, at Jesus’ baptism (Matt 3:13-17) and transfiguration (Matt 17:1-8), manifested the Trinity and authenticated Jesus’ divine sonship in the Father’s words. The Spirit also led Christ to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matt 4:1, Mark 1:12; Lu 4:1)—a radical approach to confront the devil directly (cf. Rev 12:7-11), to demonstrate victory over the devil’s revolt (CCC, 2864), to serve as a model of resistance to sin for humanity, and manifest Christ’s dual nature as human and divine. The Spirit further impelled Christ to the work of his ministry by descending on Him while he prayed (Ad Gentes, 4; cf. Luke 3:21).
Hence, the Holy Spirit is the principal agent of authentic innovation because He is the divine source of renewal, newness, transformation, and creative fidelity within God’s salvific action in history.
The Holy Spirit guides the Church to express the unchanging Gospel in ever-new historical, cultural, and pastoral forms. The Holy Spirit guides the faithful to deeper insights into divine revelation while faithfully preserving the deposit of faith. While human ingenuity can introduce new things, authentic innovation—that is, changes that lead to deeper truth, holiness, and communion—comes from the Spirit of God.
The agency of the Holy Spirit is also evident in biblical interpretation, which continues to mitigate the “risk of remaining limited to the written text alone” (Aperuit Illis, 9). While the spiritual sense is reading the biblical texts under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the fuller sense (sensus plenior) is a re-reading in light of other texts, which exemplifies authentic innovation.
Simply put, authentic innovation in the Church is pneumatological.
The Holy Spirit, as the principal agent of authentic innovation, has its source in the Nicene creed, where the Church professes her faith in the Holy Spirit as “the Lord, the giver of life” and the one “who has spoken through the Prophets”. However, the agency of the Holy Spirit goes back to the creation story when the creative breath of the Spirit brought order and life out of the primordial chaos. (Gen 1:2). The prophets spoke of the Spirit as one who brings new hearts and new ways, helping one to obey divine ordinances (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
Christ emphasised the role of the Holy Spirit, “the Spirit that gives life” (John 6:23) and “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17), who will teach his disciples all things (John 14:26) and guide them to the truth (John 16:13). Hence, after the resurrection, Christ breathed on his disciples, saying: “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).
The Holy Spirit descended on the apostles on Pentecost, a paradigmatic experience and Spirit-driven innovation that empowered the disciples, broke cultural barriers (welcoming Gentiles into the Christian community), and inaugurated the universal mission of the Church. This manifested in new languages, new ecclesial form (Church/community), and a new missionary strategy (witnessing). The Spirit continued to guide the early Church in doctrinal development.
As authentic innovation concerns bringing something to life, rejuvenation, and rekindling, the Magisterium has continued to emphasise the role of the Spirit in the Church in the context of ecclesial renewal. The Second Vatican Council describes the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of Life, a fountain of water springing up to life eternal”, which guides the Church “in way of all truth”,… “makes the Church keep the freshness of youth”, and perpetually renews it (Lumen Gentium, 4). The work of the Magisterium takes place “in the light of the Holy Spirit,” and “under the assistance of the Holy Spirit.” (Lumen Gentium, 25). The Holy Spirit helps the faithful “to decipher authentic signs of God’s presence and purpose in the happenings” and directs their minds “to solutions which are fully human” (Gaudium et Spes, 11).
The popes also reiterate the indispensable role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. Pope Paul VI maintains that the Holy Spirit is “the soul of the Church”, “the principal agent of evangelisation”, and “the goal of evangelisation” (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 75). Pope John Paul II argues that the Holy Spirit is “at the centre of the Christian faith and is the source and dynamic power of the Church’s renewal” (Dominum et Vivificantem, 2).
Pope Francis, who emphasised the role of the Spirit throughout his pontificate, affirms in his first encyclical: “Pastoral ministry in a missionary key seeks to abandon the complacent attitude that says: ‘We have always done it this way’. I invite everyone to be bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelisation in their respective communities” (Evangelii Gaudium, 33). Hence, he considers the Spirit as the one who disrupts rigidity while preserving unity (Evangelii Gaudium, 20, 80, 117).
In response to ideological polarisation in the Church, Pope Francis reiterates the indispensable role of the Holy Spirit. In his words, “When decisions are found in the Church — for example ideological divisions: ‘I am conservative because…’ ‘I am progressive because…’. But where is the Holy Spirit?” (General Audience, 22 February 2023).
Pope Francis’s synod on synodality is an innovative initiative, and he emphasises the indispensability of the Spirit in achieving the purpose of the synodal journey. At the opening of the synod on 4 October 2023, he affirmed: “We are not the protagonists of the Synod; it is the Holy Spirit, and if we leave room for the Holy Spirit, the Synod will go well…. I insist on this: please, do not sadden the Spirit…the priority should be to listen. This is the priority”.
Since authentic innovation properly belongs to the Holy Spirit, prayers to the Holy Spirit are an intrinsic part of ecclesial life and decision-making. The regular invocation of Veni Creator Spiritus, which concludes with “Send forth your Spirit, Oh Lord and renew the face of the earth” (Psalm 104:30), validates this.
Furthermore, since not every new thing is from the Spirit, authentic innovation requires conformity with Scripture and Tradition, communion with the Magisterium, and conformity with the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22–23).
This is because the Holy Spirit innovates without contradicting revelation, renews without erasing tradition, and creates without rupturing the ecclesial institution. Spirit-led innovation has pastoral and missionary benefits for the Church because it renews evangelisation zeal, reimagines the form of catechesis, updates pastoral structures, and adapts to new cultures and technologies. In this way, the Church moves from simply maintaining itself to focusing on its mission, all while keeping its core identity.
The next weeks will examine innovation in salvation history and in the institution of the Holy Eucharist.
May God continue to help us🙏🏾
K’ọdị🙋🏾♂️
