Hey: don't shoot me, I'm only the messenger!
First, Benedict XVI says the NCW ceremonies are not liturgies, and now he says they might be introducing a new liturgy. You can't make this stuff up.
source
Benedict XVI Asks for the Neo-catechumenical Way’s Masses to Be Examined11-05-2012
Filed under From Rome, News
On April 11, 2012, Italian Vatican specialist Sandro Magister announced on his website that Benedict XVI had addressed a letter to Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), ordering an examination of the Neo-catechumenical Way’s masses. Indeed, according to the reporter,
the Pope and other bishops fear that the Neo-catechumenical Way’s communities “might actually be introducing into the Latin liturgy a new rite, artificially created by the founders of the Way.” This is, he points out, a “problem” that the Pope considers to be “of great urgency” for the whole Church.[Wait a minute: what's wrong with a new rite? They were all for the
Novus Ordo revolution, so why have a problem with the Neo-cat Revolution??? If change is good, here comes more change, baby!! ]
Temporarily recognized by John Paul II, but contested even within the Church, the Neo-catechumenical Way was created in the ‘60’s, in an unfortunate suburb of Madrid, by two Spanish lay people, Francisco (Kiko) Argüello and Carmen Hernández. The Way claims to be a movement for Christian initiation and an education in the Catholic Faith, realized step by step, in little communities. It offers an itinerary for a discovery or a rediscovery of the faith. In this context, entire families are sent as missionaries into the world.
Benedict XVI’s decision comes shortly after the Vatican had announced, on January 20, that it approved the non-liturgical celebrations of the Neo-catechumenical Way. The same day, the Pope addressed the community, pointing out that “it is important not to separate oneself from the parochial community, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist, which is a true place of unity for all.” According to Sandro Magister, after an audience granted to Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelko, Archbishop of Berlin, in late January, Benedict XVI had asked the archbishop to send him a detailed note on the difficulties created by the Way in his diocese.
... [bunch of paragraphs missing -- see original DICI if you're interested, link above]
In 2005, Cardinal Francis Arinze, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Divine Cult, asked the Neo-catechumenical Way to abandon certain innovations considered not to be in keeping with the Church’s liturgical rules: mass on Saturday instead of Sunday, communion received together seated around a table, sermons delivered by a layman rather than a priest, testimony of the faithful during long emotional ceremonies.
The Way had to make some changes in its rules. In 2008, after an attentive review, the Pontifical Council for the Laity approved its statutes, and in 2011, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith approved the catechetical Directory, after having made some amendments. On January 20, 2012, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity read, in the presence of the Pope, the decree approving the ceremonies contained in the “catechetical Directory of the Neo-catechumenical Way”.
These celebrations, explained Benedict XVI to the Neo-catechumens present, “are not liturgical in the strict sense of the word; they are part of the journey of growth in the faith.” (see DICI#249, Feb. 3, 2012) (sources: apic/imedia/chiesa/readiovatican/eda/Vatican.va – DICI#254, May 11, 2012)
You can also read :
Official recognition of the liturgical practices of the Neocatechumenal Way
Topic: Now the Neo-catchumenal Way-s non-liturgy is a new rite (Read 725 times)