"Filipino Re-elected Rep in the Vatican"

Bob Canton

"In its most recent Council meeting in Rome, Italy, the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services, unanimously re-elected Filipino-American Bob Canton from Stockton. California to another three-year term to represent ICCRS to the English-speaking North and Central America as well as the Caribbean countries. Canton is one of the 14 Council members worldwide. He represents approximately 16 million Roman Catholic Charismatics in the region who are active in the Renewal in the Spirit, a movement within the Catholic Church which emphasizes the baptism in the Holy Spirit as a way to enhance their faith.

The ICCRS was established in the Vatican in 1973 by the Pontifical Council of the Laity. It operates as an information and communication center serving the Catholic Charismatic Renewal worldwide as well as also being the link between the Renewal and the Vatican. It meets regularly with the Holy See to obtain indications and consultations while keeping them informed on the growth within the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. The ICCRS Council meets once a year for one week in the Vatican. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is actually present in 220 countries and has touched the lives of over 120 million Catholics.

Canton was first elected to the ICCRS Council in 2007, and he has served in the Finance and Newsletter Committees. In 2010, he facilitated the ICCRS-sponsored International Leadership Training Course which was held in the Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio in September, the first time ever that it was held in North America. He was one of the few invitees to attend the Vatican-sponsored Colloquium on the Charisms of The Holy Spirit in 2008. He has also traveled to many countries to speak and to conduct Healing Rallies at International Catholic Charismatic Conferences on behalf of ICCRS, and in June he is scheduled to speak at an International Conference in Assisi, Italy. The biggest crowd that he has ministered so far numbered around 50,000 people in South Korea in 2009 during the ICCRS-sponsored International Convention. "To serve the Lord and His people in this capacity is indeed a great blessing and a privilege, and I pray that whatever we do in Jesus' name will give glory to God," Canton said after his re-election. He also currently served as National Coordinator of the Alliance of the Filipino Catholic Charismatic Prayer Communities in North America, an umbrella organization for all Filipino Catholic Charismatics. Canton was born and raised in Cebu City and he came into the United States in 1973 after graduating from College with an Accounting degree. He retired from his job as Senior Auditor-Appraiser with the San Joaquin County Assessor's Office in 2008 to concentrate more time on his ministty of preaching, teaching, and healing. He and his family have resided in Stockton since 1973. You may access his website, www.RobertCantonMinistries.Org."