What Is The Neocatechumenate Way

        In the ancient Church, in the midst of paganism, when a person wished to become Christian, he had to follow an itinerary in Christian training, called Catecumenate, from the word catecheo meaning "I will make resound," in the passive form "to listen".
        The secularization of modern society has encouraged many people to abandon the faith and the Church. For this reason it is necessary to reopen the itinerary in Christian formation. The Neocatecumenate does not intend to create a movement apart, but rather to assist parishes along a path of Christian initiation towards Baptism - to discover what it really means to be Christian. The movement is an instrument at the service of the bishops, in their parishes, to return to the faith the many who have abandoned it. Today in the Western world many dioceses are trying to offer catechizes for adults. The Neocatechumenate is a theological-catechetic synthesis, a catechism, a catechumenate for adults, an itinerary of Christian training for the modern man.
        In the early Church, the Catecumenate was moulded by the synthesis of Word (Kerygma), Liturgy and Morality. The ancient Church had above all a Kerygma, in other words an "announcement of salvation." This announcement of the Gospel was carried out by itinerant apostles such as Paul and Sila, and caused a moral change in those who listened; they changed lifestyle, assisted by the Holy Spirit who accompanied the Apostles. This moral change was consolidated through the Sacraments. Baptism was performed in stages. In this way the early catechism was a "gestation" towards divine life.
        When the Catechumenate disappeared in the following centuries, this synthesis (Kerygma - change of life - Liturgy) was lost. The Kerygma, as a call to faith implying a moral decision, was transformed into a "scholastic doctrine." Morality becomes an "internal forum", i.e. personal. Liturgy is now one and the same for everyone.
        The Neocatecumenate Way retrieves this "gestation," this synthesis of Kerygma, change of lifestyle, and Liturgy.

Why Neocatechumenate?

        The Neocatechumenate Way is proposed primarily to those who have already been baptized, but that lack sufficient Christian training. Even the Catechesi Tradendae affirms that the state of many Christians in the parishes is "quasi catecumenate".
        The great innovation of the Holy Father's Letter is that it recognizes in the Neocatechumenate a Christian initiation for adults, and offers to the diocese a concrete tool for evangelization, without the necessity of a religious order, association or movement. Throughout Church history, saints have tried to revive the Gospel spirit for God's people, outside the sphere of religious congregations. Their time had not come. Today, after Vatican II, atheism and secularization places the Church in a position where restoration of the Catechumenate is unavoidable.

The Pope's Letter

        With his Letter, the Pope evaluates twenty-five years of experience, begun in one of Madrid's poorest suburbs, and extended today to 600 dioceses, 3,000 parishes, 87 nations - a total of 10,000 communities which recognize the fruits of personal conversion and missionary stimulus. The parish renewal by the Neocatechumenate Way has, in fact, generated a surprising missionary drive. Many catechists and entire families have already departed to evangelize where needed.
        Another important fruit for the local Church is a renewed flourishing of vocations (in the first half of 1990 alone, more than 1,500 Neocatechumenate youths), and it diocesan missionary seminaries. The novelty of these seminaries is that they offer a serious Christian initiation process, the Neocatechumenate, for presbytery training. By now time many bishops have decided to open these seminaries in their dioceses - in Rome, Madrid, Warsaw, Medellin, Bangalore, Callao (Lima), Newark (New York), Takamatsu (Japan) and many other nations
        In his Letter, the Holy Father formally recognizes the Neocatechumenate Way as an "itinerary of Catholic formation valid for society and modern times," and encourages all bishops, along with their priests, to assist and appreciate the Way in their dioceses.