Scrutinizing the First Scrutiny, Part I

Scrutinizing a Scrutiny: A Critical Look at the NeoCatechumenal Way’s First Baptismal Scrutiny Convivence

If you’ve been in the Neocatechumenal Way for two years, you’ll likely attend a convivence (weekend retreat) with your community called the “First Baptismal Scrutiny”.  This “First Scrutiny”, usually held after two years or so, marks the end of the “precatechumate” stage in the Neocatechumenal Way.  Scrutinies are an ancient tradition in the Catholic Church, and they are supposed to afford the opportunity for the faith of a catechumen (an adult preparing to be baptised) to be examined in preparation for baptism and for that catechumen to examine his or her own walk with the Lord.

Let’s take a critical look at some disturbing aspects of this important milestone in the Neocatechumenal Way.

Suppose I were to ask you to reflect on this question, and write down the answer:  “What is your cross today and what does it mean in your life?  Why does God allow it?”  This is a completely appropriate question for any mature Catholic to ask themselves.

Now suppose I put you in the center of a room, in front of several dozen other people, and asked you to share your cross with everyone in the room.  Further suppose that you had met many of these people only two years before.  Would you do it?  Could you do it?

Some of us probably could.  If our cross is an illness, for example, in many circumstances no damage would come from sharing it.

But what if our cross is intensely personal, perhaps touching on matters of intimacy, fidelity and/or sexuality?  “My cross is the infidelity of my spouse who has been cheating on me for three years.”  What if your wife was in the room?  Or what if you perceived that she was cheating on you, but in reality, she was not?

Or  how about this:  “I am a married man but I have been struggling with same sex attractions since I was young.”  What good could publicly sharing that with dozens of others possibly do to help the situation?

Or, “My diabetes has made me impotent and my marriage is struggling because of it.”  Would sharing this help you save your marriage?

Now, suppose I put you into that room a second time, and asked you to share the same cross with the same group of people, except this time the Archbishop or one of his delegates is there too.

This is exactly what one undergoes in the Neocatechumenal Way’s first Baptismal Scrutiny!  There is no call for volunteers, no prayerful discerning.  Everybody shares, often tearfully.  Complete honesty is urged, and I have no doubts that the participants are honest.  No affirmation by a catechist that “God loves you as you are.”,  or “Not everybody is called to be salt and light.” makes this any better.  This blanket practice is an example of the psychological manipulation practiced by “the Way”.

Now, I can hear some objections already.

But the community is there to support the brother or sister in carrying their cross!

I don’t doubt that this is true for some.  But even if you ignore the human propensity for gossip within the community, you must know that in another few years you will undergo a second scrutiny, after which communities are split up and mixed and matched.  Those that “pass” the scrutiny are combined into a new community, while those that don’t either quit, or are assigned to a community at a lower stage.  As one ex-Neo told me, “There are more ex-Neos than Neos on this island!”  Your secret cross will not be so secret anymore.

I’ve got a few more criticisms of the weekend, but in an effort to be thorough, here is a complete outline of everything that happens at the Neocatechumenal Way’s First Scrutiny convivence.  My comments are in red.

 Click here to skip to Part II, where I discuss the another aspect of the First Scrutiny Convivence, the Questionnaire on Idols.

Thursday Night

9:00pm Dinner
10:30pm Lucernario (“Skylight”) Ceremony
Completely dark and silent room for two or three minutes, then the Priest enters with the Paschal candle
SONG: “Come from Lebanon”   All songs are taken from Kiko’s songbook, “He Rose from Death”, and each stage of the Neocatechumenal Way has songs particular to it.  Come from Lebanon is one such song, taken from the Song of Solomon.
Reading Jn 12.20 -50 “Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”
Catechesis on the reading
Blessing, go to bed in silence

Friday

9:00am Lauds,  admonition on Romans 4 (the faith of Abraham)
Catechesis on Romans 4
10:00am Breakfast
Questionnaire on the Faith (done alone and silently, with pen and paper, then shared with the community)

1. What are you looking for in the community?
2. What is faith, what does it give you, and what is it doing?
3. Do you believe that you have faith?
4. What you need to do to have faith?

2:00pm Lunch
Catechesis on Faith (2 sessions)
7:30pm Dinner
9:30pm Celebration of the Sacrament of Penance

    • Isaiah 1.10 -20
    • Jeremiah 31.15 -20 ;31-34
    • 2 Corinthians 5,14 -6,2
    • Matthew 11.20 -30

 

Saturday

8:30am Breakfast

9:00am Lauds, admonition on Lk 14.25 -35  “…If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple… See my note below, or click here to read Part II, specifically about this.

Song:  “The Sower”

Catechesis on Lk 14.25 -35

Singing of the Benedictus, Our Father, Blessing

11:00am Questionnaire on the Idols (to be done and shared in groups of 7 or so)

1.  Lk 12,13-34 Do you believe that your work is according to the Gospel, and up to now have you accumulated wealth for you or for God?
2.  Lk 14.25-35 Are your affections (wife, husband, children, boyfriend, girlfriend, mother, father, brothers, sisters, friends, sex [verbatim from Kiko’s Catechetical Directory] riches that you accumulate for yourself, or are they rather to help you live according to the gospel?  Notice the order of the list of idols that Kiko suggests.  Family members are the first candidates for idolotry! Where are the idols of power and prestige?
3.  Mt: 6.22 – 34 Are you aware of your true relationship with money?  Is it your Lord?

Catechesis on the Questionnaire on the Idols

7:30 pm Dinner

9:30 pm Celebration of the Word on Riches

Four readings, each introduced by an admonition and a song.
Readings:  Mark 10:17-31, Matthew 6:19-34, Luke 16:1-5, and Revelation 3:14-22
Songs:   Invocation of the Holy Spirit, “Behold, Our Mirror” . “No Man Can Serve Two Masters” “Tell Me Then”

 

Sunday

7:30 am Rise
8:00 am Breakfast
9:30 am Lauds
Admonition at Matthew 10.34 -39; 13.1 -52  “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s foes will be those of his own household.  He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;  and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.”   Didn’t the catechists cover this topic on Saturday!?!  Is all opposition of family members to Neo sectarianism is construed as opposition to Christ?   What if family members object to the sectarian techniques of the Neocatechumenal Way, e.g. excessive psychological leveraging and lack of respect for the internal forum (conscience)?

Questionnaire on the Cross (one half hour, written answers)

1.  Are you willing to be invaded by the the Spirit of God, or are you afraid that your life will change too much?
2.  What is your cross today and what is its meaning in your life?  Why do you think God allows it?

11:30 am Answers to Questions, shared with Community.  This is the first time you will be forced to share your cross – no matter what it is – with the whole group.  Get used to it.        

Catechesis on the Glorious Cross   in the Catechetical Directory, Kiko makes no mention that one’s cross can be offered up in union with Jesus’ cross for the benefit of the living or the dead.  This is a key teaching of the Church which he ignores.       

1:00 pm Lunch
Rest

4:00 pm Rite of Renewal of the First Baptismal Scrutiny

Opening Rite

Renewal of the Enrollment of Names – One by one participants get up and go to write their Baptismal name  in a bible on the lectern.  the Bible is afterward presented to the Bishop.

Renewal of Dialog on Faith and Everlasting Life

The catechist reads the names written in the Bible, eight at a time.   They put themselves at the foot of the Bishop.

Bishop:  What do you ask of the holy Church of God?
Brothers:  Faith.
Bishop:  What does Faith give you?
Brothers:  Eternal life.
Bishop:  If you want to have eternal life, love God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength and your neighbor as yourself.

Prayer of Exorcism

The catechist reads the names written in the Bible, eight at a time.   They put themselves at the foot of the Bishop.
Bishop:  Do you know that many times you have grieved the Spirit of God?  Do you want to be living Temple of the Holy Spirit forever?
Brothers: Yes, I do.
The brothers get on their knees. The Bishop approaches each brother and blows on the head. Following is the following prayer, with hands extended:  Holy Father, who through your Son, we’ve been released from slavery and the power of the evil one, cast away from these your creatures every spirit of  evil, of hypocrisy and falsehood.
The Bishop approaches to each brother and lays his hands. in Following the prayer concludes by saying:  Revitalize these brothers in the spirit of adoption that they received in baptism, because, recognizing that you called them to be your children, they might resist the traps of the devil.  Through Christ our Lord.
Brothers:  Amen.

Sign of the Glorious Cross

The catechist reads from the Bible written the names, one by one. the called brother stands in front of the bishop.
Bishop:  What is your cross today and what does it mean in your life?
The brother responds spontaneously and with brevity.  [This is the second time during the weekend that you will be asked to honestly share your cross with the entire group and with the Archbishop.]He then approaches the bishop and kneels in front of him. The Bishop marks the foreheads, with oil on his thumb, saying:  I will sign you with the glorious cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This is a sign of victory to bring you eternal life.
After doing the ritual with all the brothers , Bishop concludes with the following prayer:  Lord Jesus, in the mystery of your death there is our life, in the mystery of your resurrection there is our strength; teach us the mystery of your cross, since only in it lies the true wisdom, the true life. You are God, who lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
All: Amen .
Song : “Ode to the Glorious Cross “

Welcome into the hands of Holy Mother Church

The head of each community kneels in front of the Bishop. All other brothers kneel in place.
Bishop: Now that you that you have been accepted in baptism in the hands of the Mother Church of God, May you have today the joy of experiencing His care and protection.
Responsibles:  Where will we go?  Only the Lord has the words of eternal life.
Brothers:  Where will we go?  Only the Lord has the words of eternal life.
The bishop helps the responsibles to get up , then invites everyone to exchange the sign of peace.
Song

Celebration of the Eucharist

Tags:  Camino Neocatecumenal, Cammino Neocatecumenale

35 thoughts on “Scrutinizing the First Scrutiny, Part I

  1. Catechumen X, thank you for your enlightening email. You can be sure that I will be responding to it more fully in the days ahead, as time permits. I will say this now, though. I have come to the same place of self-discovery through the use of private confession.

  2. It seems to me that spiritually desperate and emotionally vulnerable people are susceptible to the neos.

  3. I disagree with this article entirely, I’m a 20 year old who did his 1st scrutiny when he was 18 and my community shared openly without being forced, purely because we were a community…we don’t gossip we’re not social terrorists. Idolatry isn’t majorly about power and prestige for the common person in my opinion i don’t know anyone that believes it is. Family idolatry is a serious issue I’m happy up speak about…and seriously no one forces anyone….you find one case of actual forcefulness and tell me about it, they don’t exist, you’re asked to and if you don’t trust the community or the people or you don’t feel like sharing your cross you can lie if you want, but then what have you gained?? The weekend asks us to offer our cross to God, you don’t even have to verbally announce it. It’s important

    1. Jacob, you say that you weren’t “forced” to share your cross, and obviously nobody had a knife to your back, but let me ask you this: What would have happened if you refused to honestly share your cross. What if you were silent? Would you have been judged by your catechists to be ready for the next stage? we both know the answer to that question…

      You are relatively new to “the Way”, and perhaps you don’t know, but in about two years members of your community will undergo the second scrutiny. There, the psychological leveraging will be even more intense, and frankly, some among your community will not be judged worthy to continue. Some of you will be asked to join with members of other communities, and some might even quit in anger. Then my friend, will the cross you shared with those people be safe?

      1. Hey, if you want to stay silent and not say anything that’s fine. There is no psychological manipulation. I apologize for your particular experience and all I can say is have courage and trust in God. The Chatecists are there to guide you and provide correction when needed but you ultimately have the choice to do what you want. I wasn’t raised with the way and I started walking by myself when I was 19 I’m 23 now and I plan on continuing. I won’t tell anyone it is easy and that life will get better if you walk but I will say that it is something that is inspired by the Holy Spirit and it has been recognized by Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict, and Pope Francis.

        1. Cori, and what if you do stay silent during the scrutinies? Do you really believe that the catechists will let you progress to the next stage in the Way? Don’t bet on it.

          And with respect to the Popes…the popes also strongly approved the Legion of Christ. Google “Marcial Maciel” to see what happened next…

    2. Dear Brother in Christ

      I am in my 40s. I joined the Way in my 20s. I trusted and believed in the Way just like you. I hate to tell you this, but they are crooks……….Its a money making cult. The catechists say that they are nothing but a dirty rag which you can use to clean your window allowing you to see clearly. But watch them closely and you will know the truth. Sincerely

    3. Sounds like a cult to me. We must be careful of such creations stemming from our Catholic faith. Self development from confession has helped me grow extremely fast. Especially once I knocked out my mortal sins. There was no need for community as I have community with my fellow Catholics who truly practice the traditional Latin Mass. The only true Mass. I’ve been to a Catechumenal Way Saturday mass several times and I found it very heretical. There is only one true Mass and all others, including the Novus Ordo and the Catechumenal Masses are the ape of the church Jesus warned us about.

  4. Chuck, it seems that you’re walking in the way before were you? are you a catechist? If you don’t see the good things done by the way. you can perhaps research about how the World Youth Day started and who leads it every time. Point is the Holy See wouldn’t have approved of it if they did not see the vast good that this Way brings.

    1. Please don’t spend too much time worrying about my background, Adam. And please remember that the approval of the Holy See of the Statutes of the Neocatechumenal Way does not mean that the Holy See approves of everything Kiko Arguello says or everything “the Way” does. For example, do you think the Holy See approves of a Neocatechumenal priest and Redemptoris Mater seminary professor teaching that Jesus was as sinner who experienced the forgiveness of the Father? Click here to listen and read about that!

      1. Yes chuck you are right about the Holy See, but very wrong about the fact that not everything is approved. All aspect of what the neo’s and kilo do have been analyzed and scrutinized by each and every pope since the 1960’s. Last I checked the pope is the head representTive of the Roman Catholic Church. Furthermore, if they are now recognized by the church, then you may want to line yourself up with the teachings and beliefs that it presents. You may not feel yourself called to the holy rosary society or any other charisma in the Catholic Church but to bash anything the church has deemed a charism from God, is to be against it. I myself don’t belong to the neo’s but I know when someone posses to undermine the communion of the church and it seems more that your website and articles are guilty of just that. You should change the name to the disturbed Protestant. I find nothing catholic here at all. To judge people and the precepts of the church are not what catholics are called to do. As well, if your thoughts of the church and its decisions are are so righteous and true, then maybe you would consider doing it on a stage that truly matters. Saying all this on a website you pay 13.99 a month for is just a way to spread hearsay. Bring your arguments to the pastors to the bishops, cardinals, the Pope even, but here it just looks like a cheap way for someone to put out there petty judgements. And I know you’ll try to debunk everything luck you do to all who disagree with you on this site but I know my words will come back at you eventually. Instead of being thoughtful with you I apologize but it think to be trustful is much better for me and for you.

        1. Mr. Boynton,

          Just because the Statutes have been approved, that does not mean that everything that Kiko and his lieutenants do and say has been approved. For example, consider this “fruit of the Neocatechumenal Way” on Guam:

          Fr. Luis Camacho, a Neocatechumenal priest on Guam and the first indigenous man from Guam ordained by our Redemptoris Mater seminary, got himself into a bit of trouble with a teenage girl on March 17, 2015. Read about it here. And here’s more front page news on Fr. Luis Camacho, a Neocatechumenal priest from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary here on Guam: “Priest allegedly had sex”. “A little bit of trouble” is far too polite. The 17 year old girl was his altar girl and a member of his parish and Neocatechumenal community. He took her from school and brought her to a beach where the police caught him performing cunnilingus on her.

          Finally, if you think my posts are “petty judgments”, then, pull out your copy of the Neocatechumenal Way’s Catechetical Directory, which I use to prove my criticisms, and show me exactly where I am wrong. You do have a copy of the Catechetical Directory, don’t you?

          1. First of all I do chuck, and the correct name for it is what they call a mammatretto (forgive my spelling) not the directory, it’s not a secretive thing. And secondly if your defense was a sexual scandal that happened in Guam, which seems to be the only part of the world your concerned with, then what do you have to say about the other 1000s of incidents worldwide? We’re all of these things committed by Neo priests? I highly doubt it. Claims have come in from all over the world about priest from many orders with these same instances. And even to bring something like that up is quite sick. Do you know how many people are leaving the church or have left because of these things? You blogging about them won’t help the church’s cause but only turn them off even more to Catholicism. Now I am in no way defending this Guamanian priest but if his sin gives you right to judge the whole order from which he was formed, then you should judge the other hundreds of orders with members who have committed this same sin and also have infinite blogs about their wrong doings. This is why I labeled your opinions as “petty judgements”.

          2. Thank you for your interest in my posts, Mike. Here is my response to your latest comments:

            “they call a mammatretto (forgive my spelling) not the directory”

            Members of “the Way” call the 13 volumes of their Catechetical Directory, “mamotretos“, which is Spanish for “Voluminous books”. The Holy See’s Pontifical Council for the Laity refers to it as the “Catechetical Directory” and the Statute of the Neocatechumenal Way refers to it as “Orientations for Teams of Catechists“. Take your pick.

            “it’s not a secretive thing”

            No? Then ask your catechist for a copy of the 427-page volume 1. They should at least let you borrow it right? Let me know how it goes.

            “…Guam, which seems to be the only part of the world your concerned with”

            I write about a lot of things on this blog, Mike, and I rarely confine myself to only matters pertaining to Guam.

            “even to bring something like that up is quite sick”

            Fr. Camacho’s actions were indeed sick, and I would not have mentioned it on my blog if there were not an attempt by the Archbishop and the Neocatechumenal Way here to hide it. You see, they quickly sent him off to the Neocatechumenal center in Israel after he was arrested, thereby hindering any civil or canonical investigation.

  5. Hi Chuck,

    Peace be with you brother!

    I have read your lists and your personal thoughts of what is going on in The Way….but i still fail to see what the bottom line concern is for you? Where did you get your information from by the way?

    I also wanted to highlight a very important factor that you have left out in your criticism or maybe its just not part of your life and thus you fail to see…but nothing is being done without invoking and praying for the Holy Spirit to be present in anything we do or say…

    God Bless!

    Ben

    1. Thank you for your interest in my blog, Ben. And it’s good to see interest from the Turks and Caicos Islands.

      To answer your questions in order:

      “What the bottom line concern is for you?”

      I am very concerned about the utter devastation wrought by the leaders of the Neocatechumenal Way on my island home of Guam. Division, financial malfeasance, psychological leveraging, destruction of family life, doctrinal distortions… Here is a link to my chief criticisms.

      “Where did you get your information from by the way?”

      My information comes from friends, family, and from the teachings of Kiko Arguello as presented in the 13-volume “Guidelines for Teams of Catechists”, otherwise known as the “mametros” or “Neocatechumenal Cathechetical Directory”. Ask your catechists to show you their set.

      1. I was walking the “Way” for about two years. During that time, I had this uneasy “feeling” different times and would disagree with some of the things that they were “catechising” us. One day, my eyes were opened WIDE! The very first words of the catechist to us in the convenience as we sat in a circle was, “You… are a pile of shit!… You cover yourself with good works like freshly fallen snow on a mound of dung!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!… He sounded like Satan, himself. The rest of the convenience didn’t get any better. When I complained later I was told to just “look at the fruits”… I did. I stayed up all night that night with praying to the Holy Spirit and our dear Lord revealed to me many “fruits” of “The Way” and the “Way” is NOT of God. But I told myself, “But we invoke the Holy Spirit beforehand!…” But then it slowly dawned on me that when we invoke the “Holy Spirit” with singing “Oh Lord… Send out your spirit…” I realized we leave out the word “Holy” in Holy Spirit and started to wonder ‘What “Spirit” HAVE we been invoking?… and who are we calling when we sing “Lord”?… Pray to our dear Lord to open your heart and mind to the truth. And when you do, use the words “HOLY Spirit”. My mind was opened that night to MANY things that are NOT good of the “Way” and at the end, I believe that our dear Lord was showing me that He actually thinks of the “The Way” AS A “MOUND OF DUNG COVERED IN FRESHLY FALLEN SNOW!”…

  6. Hi Friend,,,,

    Romans 7:18-20..
    18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it….

    Answer for your question & reasons…….

    only god is without sin….

    There is no Sin Biggest than the Lord Jesus Christ…

    He forgives all the sins…. Till we die it is a battle to fight against sin……

    Love your enemies… Lord Jesus is Coming Soon.

    1. Thank you, Paul. Do you have any comments on the psychological manipulation that occurs in the Neocatechumenal Way’s First Scrutiny as mentioned in my post?

      1. If we really do the Neocatechumenal Way 100%…. like early Christians (because of early Christians the whole The Roman Empire got converted into Christians)… truly the world can see Jesus Christ is living with us…. Which is really not easy for us human but possible with spirit of God, for that we need to go our mother church to receive the spirit…
        Peace of the living Christ be with you……

        1. Well Paul Vincent, I can think of at least 3 ways in which the life and practice of the Neocatechumenal Way departs greatly from that of the early Christians. Ready?

          1) Early Christian communities were composed of people at all stages of Christian growth, and they regularly welcomed newcomers, catechumens, into there midst. In the Neocatechumenal Way, on the other hand, communities are closed and all members of given community walk in lock-step through set stages. Newcomers are put into “younger” communities. The early Church did NOT do this.

          2) The primitive Church certainly had catechists within their communities, but these catechists submitted to the authority of their bishops (episcopos). The Neocatechumenal Way, on the other hand, has established a global hierarchy of catechists, with Kiko at their head. The early Church had nothing like this.

          3) The catechumenate in the early Church lasted only a few years, while members of the Neocatechumenal Way are locked into a series of stages that lasts several decades.

          1. Brother in Early church it is not very easy to become a christian… the members of the church should see signs with the new comer where it takes years to welcome that newcomer into the holy mother church… now practically it is impossible for a newcomer to understand which is happening in the church & in one day you will not understand what it means to a christian or christ & now anyone can become a christian just changing the name & getting baptism but not changing the nature of the man…. where through the holy mother church we have gift called way…. where you learn to follow christ with all your heart with all your mind & with all your strength & that too if you truly walk in the way……
            only one just wanna tell you making all researches or criticizing will not help us…..
            A ultimate goal of a christian should be that he or she should see the face of god, face to face & to be in heaven… if you truly follow the base commandment of god… i.e.. you shall love the lord god with all your heart with all your mind & with all your strength & your neighbour as yourself…. you will realise one thing that is we are not better than the other….. & ultimately you will accept the other without any judgement… like Jesus Christ Did it on the cross…. Amen…

  7. Thank you for the enlightenment, the way segregates members away from the church and has a big emphasis on preparation and meetings. To pull away from the way and question any of it creates many problems, members lie about what you say to save their own face in the community. The pope instructed the way not to take members from the church and to integrate with the parish. Does not happen. Also the way was initially founded on the basis of the poor and underprivelaged to gain an understanding of the church and a way into the catholic way, what has happened is there is a procession of faithful members encouraged to participate in adult faith lessons and duped into the way.

    When you have Carmen get up and say a person that self harms is selfish and shows no respect for God only to themselves and a woman that is beaten by her husband has to ask why they have been too selfish to themselves to cause this I have to ask what is the message. There is a great emphasis on money at the convenes, the venue is quite expensive and all put in large amounts to pay for this even when they are in no position to do so, you are embarised into paying for others.

    If looking at the beginning would kiko fly to Rome and ask his slum parishioners to fly over for a convenes. No then why do we have to be subjected to it. Being an x Jehovis witness this movement mirror many of the traits, segregation from others, always meet with like people, always busy in the movement and a slow movement to another way of church life, I ask you this question. What will happen to this next generation of members that do not have any idea of the church true values and practices, you get a break away movement and this is the outcome that will happen.

  8. Dear Chuck

    Thank you so much for taking the trouble to write about the serious issues with the Neocatechumenal Way. As a refugee who left after the second scrutiny I would like to group issues according to headings:

    1.psychologically harmful practices
    2.theologically heretical/inconsistent or unhistorical
    3.financial lack of transparency etc and governance issues

    I have left the Church and am bordering on agnosticism after brief flirtation with Anglicanism due to my traumatic experience as a Neocatechumenal. How could I have faith in an institution that approved of such a destructive and seductive cult.

    I would like you to analyse the warped view of sexuality and affection perpetrated by the catechesis. I took some notes that have unfortunately been disposed of while moving house. Every natural instinct was viewed as a perversion. Seminarians who were struggling with sexual identity and emotions were castigated in public for listening ‘to the devil’. Is this how to ensure the next generation of priests has a wholesome formation?

    I thoroughly agree with all the issues you have raised but think that because the whole tenor of homilies, catechesis and is embued with a heretical denial of the God given gift of sexuality, you could analyse this aspect in some depth.

    1. Antonia, please read my message above! I am a VERY devout Catholic. Our Lord opened my eyes to the evils of this organization. I too wondered how my loving Mother, the Catholic Church could have approved of the “Way”. St. Paul says that even the elites will be fooled… The Devil is very sly and cunning. He HATES the Catholic Church and wants to destroy it and so he has infiltrated it from within so the faithful will be deceived and leave their Mother and the nourishment that we get from her which is the life giving Sacraments. Do not let him deceive you and give him what he wants…

  9. Why would you assist the Neocatechumenal way and then make a blog about it. Havent your priests told you anything about the way? Has he even explain you that what your doing is wrong? Little did you know that in the Neocatechumenal statues it says, whatever that is said whether it be in word, eucarist, penitential liturgy, Convivence etc the brothers are not allowed to say anything. And if you were in a situation in which you find yourself being cheated on, then speak with your catechist. No one
    Is allowed to obligate you to speek. You are talking so much about the Neocatechumenal way but I want you to find me another type of group in the Catholic Church that focuses on the future of children by hosting vocational centers, helping out the archdiocese By providing more and more priests to the community and to the world. (I’m not saying that the way is the best group out there, I’m just setting an example). I remember when we had the meeting with Kiko in Philadelphia when archbishop chapu explained his joy with the Neocatecumenal way. And he’s one out of hundreds. So please stop critizing the Neocatecumenal way. If you don’t like it, well then sucks! You’ll be one of hundreds who are not pleased by the way. I’m very sorry you don’t know how to express your sins In front of people. I give thanks to God that through the catechesis that my catechist have given me he has given me the grace of accepting who I am and accepting my sins. If you can’t do that well that sounds like a you problem. May god bless you, and may he increase your faith the way that I know he’s doing with me.

  10. I am a priest who has had some contact with “the Way”. I have been ordained 22 years. Whenever I help out with a penance service or celebrate Mass with them I have to be instructed on how to do things their way. The Church’s way doesn’t seem good enough. Why does Kiko feel the need to reinvent the liturgical wheel?

  11. I dated one this year for three months. He told me he loved me and helped me unravel from past hurts. He got very intimate with me till I asked him to make a commitment first. He asked me to join neocats. I wouldn’t. He then rejected me defiling with angry degrading tones, our intimacy and causing huge emotional harm so that I fainted. I had to get psychological/medical help. These people are extremely manipulative and dangerously controlling. Run!

  12. After 30 years in the NCW I can sadly say that it is a cult. For me, the worst part of it is the violation of the catechists to the internal forum, which has seriously damaged my marriage.

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