Neocatechumenal Way

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The Neocatechumenal Way, also known as the Neocatechumenate, NC Way or, colloquially, The Way is an organization within the Catholic Church dedicated to the Christian formation of adults. It was initiated in Madrid in 1964 by Kiko Arguello and Carmen Hernandez as a response to the Second Vatican Council, and in 2008 was given definitive approval by the Holy See, receiving the status under Canon Law of a Public Juridical Personality.^[1]

Taking its inspiration from the catechumenate of the Early Church, by which converts from paganism were prepared for baptism, it provides a post-baptismal catechumenate^[2] to adults who are already members of the Church. Deeply committed to the "New Evangelisation" called for by Pope John Paul II, the Neocatechumenal Way is also responsible for 72 "Redemptoris Mater" Diocesan Missionary Seminaries, in locations as diverse as Rome and Karachi, and hundreds of "Families in Mission", which live in many of the most secularized cities of the World.

The Neocatechumenate is implemented in small, parish-based communities of between 20-50 people. There are around 40,000 such communities throughout the World, with an estimated 1 million members^[3].

The Statutes of the Neocatechumenal Way were approved ad experimentum in 2002 and the Church gave final approval of the statutes on June 13, 2008.^[4].

Contents 1 History of the Neocatechumenal Way 2 Nature and mission of the Neocatechumenal communities 3 Leadership of the Neocatechumenal Way 4 Missionary activity 5 The Redemptoris Mater Seminaries 6 Statistics of the Neocatechumenal Way 7 The World Youth Days 8 The Statutes 9 Liturgical Concession 10 Challenges for the Neocatechumenal Way 11 Recent Developments 11.1 Pope meets with Roman clergy (2/2007) 11.2 A letter from the bishops of the Holy Land (2/2007) 11.3 Final Approval by the Holy See (6/2008) 12 Notes, documents and references 13 External links

[edit] History of the Neocatechumenal Way

The Pontifical Council for the Laity's decree officially describes the history of the movement as follows: “The Neocatechumenal Way began in 1964 in the slums of Palomeras Altas, Madrid, through the work of Mr. Francisco (Kiko) Argüello and Ms. Carmen Hernández who, at the request of the poor with whom they were living, began to proclaim to them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As time passed, this kerygma was embodied in a catechetical synthesis, founded on what is called the tripod: "Word of God-Liturgy-Community", that seeks to lead people to fraternal communion and mature faith.

This new catechetical experience, born in the wake of the renewal inspired by the Second Vatican Council, attracted the keen interest of Archbishop Casimiro Morcillo^[5], who encouraged the initiators of the Way to spread it to the parishes who asked for it^[6]. This experience of evangelization thus spread gradually through the Archdiocese of Madrid and to other Spanish dioceses. In 1968, the initiators of the Neocatechumenal Way arrived in Rome and settled in the Borghetto Latino. With the permission of Cardinal Angelo Dell'Acqua^[7], then Vicar General of His Holiness for the city and district of Rome, the first catechesis began in the parish of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament and the Canadian Martyrs. Since then, the NC Way has continued to spread to dioceses around the world and even to mission countries”^[8]

In 1974, thanks to Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, the Congregation for Divine Worship publicized on their official magazine, a brief note Praeclarum exemplar appreciating the works of the Neocatechumenal communities^[9].

During the commemoration of the 30 years of life of the Way on January 24, 1997, Pope Benedict XVI expressly urged the drafting of the Statutes as, "a very important step that will open the way to the formal juridical recognition by the Church, and giving you a further guarantee of the authenticity of your charism" ^[10]

[edit] Nature and mission of the Neocatechumenal communities

According to its Statute, the Neocatechumenal Way “is at the service of the Bishops as a form of diocesan implementation of Christian initiation and of ongoing education in faith, in accordance with the indications of the Second Vatican Council and the Magisterium of the Church”^[11].

It is made up of a "post-baptismal catechumenate" (or baptismal catechumenate if the members have not received the sacrament of baptism), an ongoing education in faith and a service of catechesis^[12].

The Neocatechumenal Way is implemented in the dioceses under the jurisdiction, direction of the diocesan Bishop^[13] and with the guidance of the Responsible Team of the Way “according to the lines proposed by its initiators”^[14].

[edit] Leadership of the Neocatechumenal Way

The Neocatechumenate is led by the International Responsible Team of the Way, which comprises the Initiators, Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernández, together with Father Mario Pezzi, a priest of the Diocese of Rome. Under the terms of the 2007 statute, this team will remain in place until the demise of its members, after which an electoral college of senior neocatechumenal catechists will elect a new team, and with the approval of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, will have a mandate to lead the NC Way for a period of 7 years until reelection ^[15].

Leadership at national and regional level is given by around 700 teams of "Itinerant Catechists", comprising a priest and 2 or 3 lay people, appointed and supervised by the International Responsible Team. Depending on the number of communities in a particular area, a team of Itinerant Catechists may be responsible for the implementation of the NC Way in a country, a group of countries or a region of a country.

Pope John Paul II summarized the role of the Itinerant Catechists in a Private Audience for 2000 priests of the Neocatechumenal Communities in December 1985 (reported in the Italian edition of Osservatore Romano, 11 December 1985):

"They contribute by forming the first neocatechumenal communities of a parish, and are supposed to maintain regular contact with the Bishops of the diocese in which they work; the itinerant teams preserve a constant link with the responsibles of the Neocatechumenal Way, visiting periodically the communities they catechized and taking care of the development of the Neocatechumenal Way in the territory assigned to them, being fully faithful to the charism given to the initiators and obedient to the local Ordinary."

The Itinerant Catechists do not make any formal commitment to their missionary role, and are free to resign at any moment.

[edit] Missionary activity

In front of the secularization of Northern Europe and vast areas in the world, the Initiators of the Neocatechumenal Way, have begun the experience of families in mission. This charisma serves to establish the presence of the Catholic Church in countries where there is none (this is referred as Implantatio Ecclesiae) or to strengthen the presence of Catholic communities in particularly difficult areas^[16].

About two-hundred families met with Pope Benedict XVI asking for the missionary mandate before beginning their mission to mainly France, Belgium, Germany and China on January 12, 2006 bringing the number of “Families in Mission” from the Neocatechumenal Way to over five-hundred in the entire world.^[17]. The Pope also spoke about the "certain norms” contained in the letter from the Congregation for Divine Worship on the celebration of the Holy Eucharist in the Neocatechumenal communities^[18]. He explained that the purpose of these norms is to make the apostolate of the Neocatechumenal Way "even more effective" in communion with all the People of God.

In March 2008 the Neocatechumenal Way held a meeting with nine cardinals, including Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, and Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, and 160 European bishops who gathered March 24-29 at the Domus Galilaeae International Center on the Mount of Beatitudes in Galilee. Cardinal Schönborn said that during the last 40 years Europe has said ‘no’ to its future three times: in 1968 when it rejected 'Humanae Vitae'; then, 20 years later, with the legalization of abortion; and today with homosexual marriages. He also called the Neocatechumenal Way an answer of the Holy Spirit to this situation. A joint declaration from the bishops said Here we have an important proposal, the proposal of the Neocatechumenal Way, which is to renew the life of the family^[19].

January 10, 2009, the Pope met with over 10,000 people for a celebration marking the 40th anniversary of the Neocatechumenal Way in Rome. In this celebration there was a sending of several whole communities who have finished the way on mission, as well as Itinerant catechists, mission families, and the Missio Ad Gentes. The Missio Ad Gentes, a newer form of mission in the Neocatechumenal Way, involves the sending of three, four, or five whole families to a certain area under the request of the bishop.

[edit] The Redemptoris Mater Seminaries

Kiko and Carmen also started the "Redemptoris Mater" Seminaries. These diocesan seminaries are presented as a fruit of the Second Vatican Council as well as a fruit of the prophetical vision of Pope John Paul II and accept only priestly vocations coming from the Neocatechumenal Way. The idea to establish these seminaries started in Rome, the diocese of the Holy Father, to establish a seminary with these characteristics:

• international, i.e. with vocations coming from different nations;
• missionary, i.e. that upon ordination, the priests are available to go wherever the ordinary sends them^[20].

In 1988, the first Redemptoris Mater Seminary was erected by Cardinal Poletti, Vicar of the Holy Father in Rome.

In June 2007, Abuna Elias Chacour (Melkite Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Acri, Haifa, Nazareth, and all Galilee) has proposed the establishment of a new "branch" of the Neocatechumenal Way "to work specifically in the Eastern-rite Church" (Melkite liturgy). Archbishop Chacour states in his message that he has searched for "someone or some community to preach the Good News to my parishioners" as an answer to proselytism of the sects, and that the Neocatechumenal Way is an answer. Fr. Rino Rossi received the letter with great joy and reported to ZENIT that "We share the sense of urgency expressed by Archbishop Chacour to evangelize 'the living stones' in the land of the Lord."^[21]

It has now also been announced that a Redemptoris Mater Seminary of the Melkite Rite is due to open in 2008.

[edit] Statistics of the Neocatechumenal Way

The following table contains statistics for the number of communities in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and other countries. Communities are established in a parish within a diocese, and each community usually consists of between 20 to 50 people.

Americas - Nation	Communities
Argentina	1,500
Belize	4
Bolivia	400
Brazil	5,600
Canada	44
Chile	460
Colombia	2,000
Costa Rica	350
Cuba	45
Dominican Rep.	560
Ecuador	570
El Salvador	500
Guatemala	800
Honduras	440
Mexico	3,200
Nicaragua	300
Panamá	200
Paraguay	500
Perú	960
Puerto Rico	130
Turks and Caicos Islands	6
United States of America	720
Uruguay	200
Venezuela	1,100
Middle East - Nation	Communities
Egypt	30
Iraq	9
Israel	15
Jordan	1
Kuwait	3
Lebanon	52
Palestine	8
Asia - Nation	Communities
China	9
Hong Kong	4
India	500
Japan	20
Kazakhstan	9
Malaysia	14
Pakistan	13
Philippines	700
Singapore	7
South Korea	40
Sri Lanka	10
Taiwan	25

Europe - Nation	Communities
Albania	22
Andorra	20
Austria	38
Belarus	11
Belgium	30
Bulgaria	10
Croatia	250
Cyprus	5
Czech Republic	40
Denmark	7
Estonia	5
Finland	6
France	60
Georgia	6
Germany	50
Greece	6
Hungary	40
Ireland	25
Italy	10,000
Latvia	9
Lithuania	20
Luxembourg	1
Malta	100
Monaco	4
Netherlands	40
Norway	1
Poland	1,000
Portugal	300
Romania	50
Russia	5
San Marino	5
Serbia, Bosnia & Macedonia	30
Slovakia	65
Slovenia	40
Switzerland	35
Spain	7,002
Sweden	10
Turkey	9
Ukraine	45
United Kingdom	51
Oceania - Nation	Communities
Australia	60
Guam	40
Kiribati	3
Northern Mariana Islands	10
Papua New Guinea	1
Africa - Nation	Communities
Egypt	30
Morocco	2
Tunisia	2

The highest number of communities found in Europe (and the World) are found in Italy. Spain and Poland are the other two countries with more than a thousand communities in Europe.

The highest number of communities in the world in a country per capita is found in Malta, which has 100 communities in an island of 400,000 persons, which is the equivalent of twice the number of communities both in Italy and in Spain.

[edit] The World Youth Days

Bi-annually, World Youth Day has been organized by the Roman Catholic Church, during which the Pope summoned youths from all over the world to a chosen city. The Neocatechumenal Way has been an active organizer within the World Youth Days and has rallied youths from the Neocatechumenal Communities to attend the World Youth Day. During the last World Youth Day, held in Sydney, Cardinal George Pell said of the 110,000 foreigners that attended the World Youth Day 40,000 were from the Neocatechumenal Way^[22]. During the week before the WYD the youth from the Way went announcing the gospel to all peoples of Australia. In Cologne in August 2005, nearly one hundred thousand youth from the NC Way met in Cologne (nearly about 10% of the total of all the youths from around the World who attended the event).

After the meeting with the Pope held for all the youths, the initiators of the Neocatechumenal Way organize a meeting with the Neocatechumenal Way youths, at the end of which a vocational call is done by Kiko Argüello. In Sydney around one thousand five hundred (1,500) men answered the call for the priesthood and eight hundred and fifty (850) young women stood up to show their willingness to a consecrated life. In Bonn (2005) around one thousand five hundred (1,500) young men, together with another nine hundred (900) young women answered the call.

These young men and women, began a process of discernment in their own dioceses and NC Way communities (most of the priestly vocations go to a "Redemptoris Mater" seminary), which may lead to priesthood or consecrated life^[23].

At a meeting in Loreto in September 2007 led by Pope Benedict XVI, which was organized as a run-up to the WYD in Sydney in 2008, more than 100,000 Neocatechumenal Way youths exclusively from Europe attended the meeting.

In the July 2008 meeting in Sydney, around 40,000 Neocatechumenal Way youths from around the world met for a vocational meeting presided by Cardinal Pell, and a large number of cardinals and archbishops as well as bishops from around the world. The youths embarked on evangelization routes around Australia in all the states and territories before gathering for the WYD celebrations at Randwick Course and later for the Neocatechumenal Way Vocational meeting were around 1,500 young men and 800 young women answered the call for vocations.

Since the meeting with Pope John Paul II in 1984 the Way has had vocational calls in order to “harvest the fruits” which grew in the encounters with the Holy Father. When the call was made in Loreto, some 2,000 men and 1,200 women stood up; showing their willingness to become priests or to live a consecrated life and received a blessing.

In the Sydney meeting in 2008, Kiko has called for a 250,000 Neocatechumenal-youth presence for the Madrid World Youth Day due to be held in 2011.

[edit] The Statutes

The Statutes of the “Neocatechumenal Way’’ is the result of many years work by the initiators of the Neocatechumenal Way and the Pontifical Councils. The first approval of these statutes was received in June 2002 and were signed as ‘‘ad experimentum (Latin words meaning "experimental version") for five years and the final approval came in June 2008^[4]. The Statutes refer to a Catechetical Directory which Kiko revealed that “the Holy See is studying the texts of the Way's catecheses, so that they can be made public and distributed to parishes worldwide^[24].”

The Neocatechumenal was endowed with “Public Juridical Personality^[25].” This is granted through the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and reinforced with the approval of the statutes ^[26]. Being a Public personality it is closely governed by an ecclesiastical authority. This means that the Neocatechumenal Way performs entrusted functions “in the name of the church”. Being a “Public Juridical Personality” the Neocatechumenal way has no material goods of its own^[27]

[edit] Liturgical Concession

Throughout various points in time the Holy See has addressed the celebration of the Holy Mass in the Neocatechumenal Way. One of these occasions, on December 1, 2005, a few days after Benedict XVI met in a private audience with Kiko Argüello, Carmen Hernández and Fr. Mario Pezzi, Cardinal Francis Cardinal Arinze sent a letter ^[28] containing the “Holy Father's decisions“ regarding the liturgy. The statutes also gave certain directions and reaffirmed some of the concessions given in Cardinal Arinze's letter,^[29] they are outlined as such:

1. ”as for any admonitions^[30], these must be brief and follow the directives of Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani and Ordo Lectionum Missae”;
2. ”the homily is reserved to the priest or deacon";
3. about "echoes"^[31], that they “be brief and not have characteristics of an homily”;
4. ”on the exchange of peace, permission is granted to the Neocatechumenal Way to continue using the indult already granted. ^[32]“;
5. ”the Neocatechumenal Way, in its celebration of the Holy Mass, should follow the approved liturgical books, keeping in mind what is laid out above under the numbers 1,2,3,4,5, and 6”.

Regarding the manner of receiving the Holy Communion, the letter states that the communities must adopt the prescribed way of receiving communion. In the final statutes, the Holy Communion will continue to be received under both species and the neocatechumens receive it standing, remaining at their place" ^[33]. The statutes also mention the sacrament of Penance celebrated according to the rite of reconciliation for multiple penitents, with individual confession and absolution^[34].

[edit] Challenges for the Neocatechumenal Way

During the 40 years since its inception and especially in the '80s and '90s, some bishops, priests and senior clergymen, including the late Cardinal Basil Hume^[35], who refused to ordain priests formed at the Redemptoris Mater seminary, have expressed concerns regarding the validity of this experience, of its teachings, liturgies and its practices. Many argued that the doctrine taught was not in alignment with the teachings of the Catholic Church and detracted to the point of being in line with Protestant beliefs and the Protestant negation of the sacraments. With the first ad experimentum approval of the statutes in 2002 and again with the final approval of 2008, by the highest authority of the Catholic Church, all the concerns have been cleared and the liturgical practices have been reconfirmed and will continue as before.

In some instances, a few diocesan bishops have issued letters or decrees to control this reality at a local level, or regarding the modalities of its liturgies. The final approval of the statutes along with the concessions written in the letter of the Congregation for Divine Worship in December 2005, confirm the legitimacy of the liturgical practices of the Neocatechumenal Way.

[edit] Recent Developments

[edit] Pope meets with Roman clergy (2/2007)

Prior to the approval of the statutes on Thursday 22 February 2007, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, met the clergy of Rome. In a question-and-answer session with Roman clergy Fr. Gerardo Raul Carcar asked the Pope for advice on how he should integrate movements in order to develop a real ministry of unity in the universal Church.

The Neocatechumenal Way was mentioned briefly by the Pope in the following:

"For example, we ask ourselves whether, after five years of experience, it is possible to confirm definitively the Statutes for the Neocatechumenal Way, whether a trial period is necessary or whether, perhaps, certain elements of this structure need perfecting. In any case, I knew the Neocatechumenals from the very outset. It was a long Way, with many complications that still exist today, but we have found an ecclesial form that has already vastly improved the relationship between the Pastor and the Way. We are going ahead like this! The same can be said for other Movements."

The Holy Father cited two rules for movements' growth: respect for the charism, and integration with and service of the Church^[36].

[edit] A letter from the bishops of the Holy Land (2/2007)

Three days later, on the 25, The Catholic Bishops of the Holy Land write a letter to Kiko saying, amongst other things:

1. Brothers and sisters of the Way: You are welcome in our dioceses.
2. Pursuant to the letter that Pope Benedict XVI addressed to you on January 12, 2006, and the one from the Congregation for Divine Worship on December 1, 2005, was ask you to take your place in the heart of the parish in which you proclaim the Word of God, avoiding making yourselves a group apart.
3. Your first duty, if you want to help the faithful grow in faith, is that of rooting them in the parishes and in their own liturgical traditions in which they have grown up for generations.
4. The rite is like an identification card, and not only one way of praying among others. We implore you to have the charity to understand and respect the attachment of our faithful to their own liturgies.
5. The Eucharist is the sacrament of unity in the parish, and not of fragmentation. And so we ask that the Eucharistic celebrations, in all the Eastern rites as well as in the Latin rite, be presided over always by the pastor, or in the case of the Latin rite, in full agreement with him. “Where the bishop is, there is the Church,” wrote Saint Ignatius of Antioch. Teach the faithful to love their liturgical traditions, and put your charism at the service of unity.
6. We also ask you to undertake a serious study of the language and culture of the people, as a sign of respect for them and as a means of understanding their soul and their history, in the context of the Holy Land: religious, cultural, and national pluralism.

[edit] Final Approval by the Holy See (6/2008)

On June 13, 2008, Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, published a decree containing the definitive approval of the statutes of the Neo-Catechumenal Way. During a celebration held in the offices of the council, the cardinal handed the decree of approval and a final draft of the statutes to Kiko Arguello and Carmen Hernandez, initiators of the Neo-Catechumenal Way, and to the Italian priest Fr. Mario Pezzi. The process of approval was prolonged because it involved the areas of responsibility of five separate Vatican dicasteries: the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Congregation for the Clergy, and the Congregation for Catholic Education, all of which gave careful examination to the statutes, alongside the Pontifical Council for the Laity which co-ordinated and concluded the process.

"Thus ends the process that began in 1997" reads a communiqué on the subject released by the Neo-Catechumenal Way. A process that began "at the behest of John Paul II to give the Way 'formal legal recognition' and to make it a 'universal patrimony of the Church'". In the communique the founders of the Neo-Catechumenal Way explained how "our recognition and gratitude go out to Pope Benedict XVI who with great love has followed and approved the conclusion of this work^[4].

[edit] Notes, documents and references

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Neocatechumenal Way

• Official Neocatechumenal Way website
• The Neocatechumenal Way in the US (unofficial website)
• The Neocatechumenal Way in Canada (unofficial website)
• The Neocatechumenal Way in Singapore (unofficial website)