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Monday, January 12, 2009

NEO-CATECHUMENAL WAY: JOY, FAITH, SEARCH FOR UNITY

VATICAN CITY, 10 JAN 2009 (VIS) - In St. Peter's Basilica this afternoon, Benedict XVI commemorated the fortieth anniversary of the Neo-Catechumenal Way, a group founded by the Spaniards Kiko Arguello and Carmen Hernandez, and the Italian priest Mario Pezzi.

  During the meeting, which was attended by 25,000 members of the Way, the Pope entrusted the "mission cross" to fourteen Neo-Catechumenal communities, each made up of some 30-40 members, soon to depart on mission to help pastors in the most difficult and secularised areas of the outskirts of Rome.

  "Your presence", said the Holy Father in his address, "bears witness to the prodigies wrought by the Lord over the last four decades. It is also a sign of the commitment with which you intend to continue down the path you have begun, a path of faithful adherence to Christ and of courageous witness to His Gospel, ... a path of humble acceptance of the guidance of pastors and of communion with all other components of the People of God, ... well aware that helping the men and women of our time to meet Jesus Christ, Redeemer of man, is a mission for the Church and for all the baptised. The Neo-Catechumenal Way is part of this ecclesial mission, as one of the numerous 'ways' brought into being by the Holy Spirit at Vatican Council II for the new evangelisation".

  "How much fresh apostolic energy has been created among priests and laity!" the Pope exclaimed. "How many families ... have been helped to rediscover the joy of faith and the enthusiasm of evangelical witness through the announcement of the 'kerygma' and the rediscovery of Baptism! The recent approval of the Statutes of the Neo-Catechumenal Way by the Pontifical Council for the Laity are a confirmation of the esteem and benevolence with which the Holy See follows the work the Lord began through your founders".

  "Your apostolic activities, already highly praiseworthy in themselves, will be even more effective in the degree to which you constantly strive to cultivate that desire for unity which Jesus communicated to the Twelve at the Last Supper. ... It is this unity - gift of the Holy Spirit and incessantly sought by the faithful - that makes each community a living and well-integrated member of the mystical Body of Christ. The unity of the disciples of the Lord is part of the essence of the Church, and an indispensable condition if her evangelising activity is to prove fruitful and credible".

  "Indeed, what is needed today is a vast missionary action involving the various aspects of the Church which, each conserving the originality of its own charism, must work harmoniously to achieve that 'integrated pastoral care' which has already enabled significant results to be reached. And you, placing yourselves - as your Statues say - with complete willingness at the service of bishops, can become an example for many local Churches which rightly look to Rome as a model to which to refer".

  The Pope concluded his remarks by inviting the members of the Neo-Catechumenal Way "not to lose heart in the face of difficulties, and not to seek human success, nor to fear misunderstandings and even persecutions", but rather to "trust only in the power of Christ, to take up your own cross and follow the footsteps of our Redeemer".
AC/ANNIVERSARY/NEO-CATECHUMENAL WAY        VIS 20090112 (570)


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