As reported in the Ferrara article below, one of the leaked documents was a letter from American Cardinal Raymond Burke, president of the Vatican's highest court, to Italian Cardinal Tascisio Bertone, the Secretary of State, in which Burke told Bertone that he had received an invitation to a January 20 celebration of Vatican approval for the Neocatechumenate's approach to worship. According to the leaked document, Burke wrote:
“As a cardinal and a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, I cannot avoid expressing to Your Eminence the surprise this invitation caused me. I do not recall having heard a consultation regarding a particular liturgy for this ecclesial movement. In recent days, I’ve received expressions of concern regarding papal approval, which they already knew about, from various persons, including a respected bishop in the United States. I regarded them as rumor and speculation, but now I’ve discovered they were right. As a faithful student of the teaching of the Holy Father with regard to liturgical reform, which is fundamental for the New Evangelization, I believe the approval of such liturgical innovations, even after the corrections on the part of the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, does not seem coherent with the liturgical magisterium of the pope.”According to Allen, the document carried a handwritten note from the Pope, dated Jan. 20, which read: "Return to Card. Bertone, inviting Card. Burke to perhaps translate these very correct observations in the Congregation for Divine Worship." (See Ferrara's commentary in the post below.)
Related:
- Fr. Enrico Zoffoli, "The Neocatechumenal Way: A Fearful Danger to the Faith" (Christian Order, April 1995).
While gracious to a fault in his attitude towards adherents of the Neocatechumenal Way, Fr. Zoffoli, a Passionist Priest, is adamant about problems of serious heterodoxy in the "catechesis" inspired by their founder, Kiko Argüello, which he details here.
See also Fr. E. Zoffoli's Heresies of the Neocatechumenals, VIth private edition (1991), and The Teaching of the Pope and Catechisms of Kiko: A Comparison (Segno Edition, 1992).
- F. John Loughnan, "A Neocatechumenal Way Experience" offers (beginning with Item 'F' and ending with 'Q') a collection of links to a Maltese website containing posts by Fr. Enrico Zoffoli.
5 comments:
I know that these sorts of 'para-church' movements have been springing up in the wake of Vatican II, and I have often found myself wondering whether it is not because, after "razing of the bastions" of Catholic liturgical devotional tradition in keeping with the principles of aggiornamento and Nouvelle theologie, they haven not found themselves wandering in a parched spiritual wasteland.
They seem like shoddy neo-Protestant substitutes for the solid substance of tradition.
Some say the group is a reberth of the faith. Lots of energy, for sure. I first thougt it was Protestant.
It is astounding to me that a group like this is tolerated by the Church. I cannot believe that it has received any kind of "approval". The secrecy alone should have set off warning bells, but the nonsense being taught should be corrected immediately.
I simply don't understand any of your comments. It's obvious none of you have come in contact with any one from the NeoCat way, yet, you all have some harsh words. Everyone in my Parish that is a part of the way (800 and counting) is extremely obedient to everything our Priest, our Bishop and of course the Holy Father says. We are FAR from protestant. I should know... I converted to Catholicism from protestant. We hold the Sacraments Holy. We do nothing but show reverence to God in EVERY celebration we have. Our Eucharist is OPEN to the public. No one is "kept out" so to speak. We would prefer that you go to a catechesis first however since during the Eucharist some of the Laity will stand in a seperate moment to share their darkest or brightest moments where God has shown them something... a reflection of self, reality, conversion,etc... and if you haven't gone to the catechesis and you just show up and hear someone stand with tears in their eyes thankful that God has pulled them out of sexual sin, or shooting drugs, etc... you might be a little shocked. Yet, again, NO ONE is discouraged from being at the Eucharist we celebrate. If you do come, I hope you have an unbias mentality... oh... and get there early. Not sure about your parrish, but we run out of seats fairly quick and the parking lot is packed.
Hey Chief,
It's not surprising you're a prot. convert. I applaud that. But it also means that you may be inclined to take the religious experience you've had in your prot. background and fuse that with your Neocat. experiences with very little formation in Catholic tradition. The experience of enthusiasm found in Neocat. circles may be inspiring, like the experience of speaking in tongues to the charismatic. But that in itself may have very little with being formed in the traditional Catholic faith. Have you read the links posted by PP below? Whatever the good (and I don't deny there's good in Neocat.) there are also serious problems, and even the Pope has addressed some of his concerns.
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