The Neocatechumenal Way was born among the poor as a fruit of the Second Vatican Council.
The Neocatechumenal Way conforms to the new Statutes a model of Post-Baptismal catechumenate to be fulfilled under the discretion of the diocesan Bishops, or as John Paul II defined it in the words in art. 1 of the Statues, as an "Itinerary of Catholic Formation:" a formation to Christian life, based principally on catechesis and liturgy, in part in the community and conducted given the specified methods and guidelines.
In the early Church, at a time when the world was pagan, whoever wanted to become Christian had to begin "catechumenate", that is the way of formation that prepares for baptism. Today the process of secularization has forced many people to abandon the faith and the Church, so essential is itinerarium of formation to Christianity.
The Neocatechumenal Way is not a movement, nor the association, but it is tool in the heart of the parish that exists in order to again lead people to believe.
The Neocatechumenal Way started in the sixties of the XX century in one of the poor suburbs of Madrid by Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernández, was supported by the Archbishop of Madrid Kasimiro Morcillo, who saw in this first group the real discovery of the Word of God and the practical implementation of the liturgical renewal, which then made by Vatican II.
Taking into account the positive experience in the parishes of Madrid and Rome, in 1974 the The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacramentsoutlined this experience of " Neocatechumenal Way". This refers to the way of conversion through which you can discover the riches of baptism.
Neocatechumenal Way spread in more than 900 dioceses in 105 countries, where 6000 are 20,000 parishes’ communities.
In 1987 in Rome was opened the first International Missionary Seminary «Redemptoris Mater», which takes youths vocation which matures in the neocatechumenal community, and who are willing to go all over the world, in any place. As a result - many bishops adopted the Roman experience, and today there are over seventy missionary seminaries «Redemptoris Mater», which formed more than a thousand seminarians.
In response to the appeal of Pope John Paul II to the new evangelization, many families who have already finished the Neocatechumenal Way, dedicated themselves to the missionary cause of the Church and moved to the most secularized and dechristianizated places of over the world, preparing the formation of new missionary parishes.
Source material: kapucyny.kiev.ua
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