It sounds like some sort of desperate attempt to find some "Christian" in them ---Lil. I love it! Let them be Evangelical Catholics--maybe they will be included now.
The only true test for authentic Catholicism is to find out whether they are led by a validly ordained Roman Catholic bishop, and whether they are loyal to the Roman Catholic teaching office (the Magisterium) and the Pope.
Evangelical Catholics is a term you'd use to describe the movements and people in the church that emphasize the personal and interior conversion of faith, as well as lay evangelism and ministry. An example of this would be the Cursillo movement. I am a member of this movement, which I guess makes me an evangelical Catholic...so you've got a live guinea pig here.
Members of the evangelical Catholic movements are faithful Roman Catholics who are simply taking on "a bit more."
An evangelical of any Christian sect is a person who shares the Gospel (the love of Christ) with others, preferably by action and words together, but just actions is fine, too.
In that sense, every Roman Catholic is required to be an Evangelical Catholic.
There is likely some small movement of Catholics who seeks to "specialize" by giving themselves the title "Evangelical Catholic" - whether they do this with the blessing of the Holy See, I don't know.
The Pentacostal movement is largely protestant and it is an attempt to recreate what happened in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit came upon the first Christians in a powerful way. In this day and age, the concept lends itself to hype and spiritual endangerment.
In my years as a Catholic, I have seen the priest face the alter, face us, kneel for communion, get communion from most anyone, some nuts speaking in tongues, and people wearing shorts to church. I think these days you can find your "brand" of worship within the church. I now attend an Orthodox church where at least the liturgy doesn't change to pacify the {UN}faithful.
An Evangelical is someone who lives their life in accordance with the Christian gospel.
By this definition, Catholics are Evangelicals.
+ Pentecostal +
A Pentecostal is someone who seeks to be filled with the Holy Spirit, in emulation of the Apostles at Pentecost.
By this definition, Catholics are Pentecostals.
+ Born Again +
Catholics are spiritually born again (and again and again) through:
+ Belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior
+ Living the Gospel to the best of our ability
+ Daily rededicating ourselves to Jesus Christ
+ Receiving new life in Baptism
+ The forgiveness of sins through the Sacrament of Reconciliation
+ The infusion of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands in Confirmation
+ Taking the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ into our bodies through the Eucharist (Holy Communion)
+ Even during the penitential season of Lent
These are a few ways that Catholics are spiritually born again. We usually just don't use those words.
+ Redefining Christianity +
Some groups like to redefine words like Evangelical, Pentecostal, and even Christian and claim that Catholics are none of them.
Iamcatholic2 gave a great answer. Don?t confuse Catholics and Protestants. Under the Catholic sense of the words, all Catholics are called to evangelize (spread the gospel ? be Evangelical) and to be filled with the Holy Spirit as at Pentecost (be Pentecostal).
In Protestantism, different people tend to break apart and form their own churches, focusing their church/preaching on whatever they feel is the most important thing. In this case, people who feel the need to spread the Word end up congregating with each other and are called Evangelical. By definition they are performing the same tasks as Catholics, but though they might be strong in preaching and teaching, other aspects of the faith might be overlooked.
The same is true of Pentecostal Protestants. Their main focus is usually driven toward being filled with the Holy Spirit and not necessarily evangelizing, unless they feel called to this by the Holy Spirit.
The sum it up, the Catholic Church contains the fullness of faith and relies on the Holy Spirit to inspire and guide Her in all aspects of the Faith, like evangelizing and Pentecostalism. We are to be filled with the Spirit, living our lives in the spirit, so that we are constantly evangelizing, even when we don?t say anything.
Is an Evangelical catholic the same as a Roman Catholic?
