Neo-cathecumen

[Anna1983]

Can anyone explain to me what Neo-Catechumenals are, I know they are a group within the Catholic church? Do they have Catholic beliefs? Are they of a sound nature? Ive heard about them, but would really like to find out exactly what they are? Are they Carismatic?

Id be really grateful if anyone could explain more to me about them.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

I'm moving this to Transmundane Lane so you can get a more sufficient response.

Also, to clarify, do you mean the Neocatechumenal Way?

[Anna1983]

Thanks for moving the post, Yes I mean the Neo Catechumenal way, Please if anyone can explain more Id be grateful

[icelandic_iceskater]

Well, what is it you want explained? I'm not an official member, but one of my best friends & my bro are pretty involved in it.

In order to become a member, you start out by going to about an eight week long catechesis. I attended this a few years back. My brother really enjoyed it and seemed to benefit from. I, on the other hand, was not so much a fan. I think mainly because I couldn't relate to their teaching style and I disagreed with one thing that they talked about. This was probably just the group that I went to, though. All in all it was pretty good and I'd definitely recommend at least attending one or two weeks of the catechesis. Once you start going, you're under no obligation to keep attending. We had the majority of the people ended up attending the catechesis then dropping it and not "walking" (as they call it) with the neo-wayers. (From what I noticed, it seemed as if the dropping out part was more because of the time commitment than anything else)

Once you complete the catechesis, they have a weekend long retreat called a "convievence" It's basically just a weekend spent with mass, confession, learning from the other neo-wayers, and just getting to know everyone a little better. At the end of the weekend, they asked if we were going to stay and be part of the neo-way. My bro said yes, I said maybe.

Since then, I haven't been to many of their meetings. This is partly because I have a scheduling conflict during the school year, and partly because I just didn't relate well with that particular group. Obviously not all groups are the same. haha. My friend absolutely loves this group, and it's amazing how much she's changed since she first started "walking"

Now they have meetings twice a week. Once they meet during the week for about an hour-two to read & discuss bible passages related to a specific topic. The meetings have a specific form to them, and incorporate music and a brief reflection time as well. On Saturdays the group meets to discuss the readings for this weekends masses.

Ideally they would have what they call a "Eucharist" instead of the Saturday readings. It's basically mass, just with neo-way music, and after the readings there's an opportunity to "echo" how that bible passage may have affected you.

And they also have their "convievences" a few times a year. Ideally, you would have them once a month, but the group here does not have the ability to do that so they take what they can get.

anyways, I hope I wasn't just rambelling on about stuff you're already aware of. haha if you want to know more go ahead and ask. I may not know the answer, but hopefully another member of this forum will! Or I can ask my bro or friend.

Oh, and this is pretty much just what I gathered from hanging out with a local group for awhile and having a bro and good friend involved. It may or may not be the norm of how neo-wayers roll

[url="http://www.camminoneocatecumenale.it/new/default.asp?lang=en"]here's[/url] they're official website. Except it appears that most of it is in Italian, even though I clicked on the "English" language option. So in the off chance that you don't speak Italian, [url="http://www.neocatechumenalway.us/Main.htm"]here's[/url] an unofficial English site. The history of the way and all that jazz is all on the websites.

Pax
-Molly

[icelandic_iceskater]

eek, that last post came out longer than I intended

btw, Welcome to phatmass!

[Resurrexi]

I am very opposed to this group.

[Anna1983]

Thank you Molly for your reply, it helped alot in gaining understanding,

Are this group carismatic in nature? Do they speak in tongues?

Also, I notice lots of people are apposed to them, why is this do you think? It seems as if the Pope has approved it, Do the Neo-Cats consider them Catholic in the same way as everyone else?

[Resurrexi]

Their liturgical practices leave much to be desired.

[Anna1983]

What sort of liturgical practices do they have?

[icelandic_iceskater]

[quote name='Resurrexi' post='1859777' date='May 6 2009, 05:34 PM']I am very opposed to this group.[/quote]
lol as I was typing that up, I was actually thinking "O snap, I'll bet resurrexi is opposed to this"

[quote name='Anna1983' post='1859854' date='May 6 2009, 07:06 PM']Thank you Molly for your reply, it helped alot in gaining understanding,

Are this group carismatic in nature? Do they speak in tongues?[/quote]
The group I attended was not charismatic, although the people in this group were less charismatic so that may be why. I'm not sure about other groups... I just asked my friend. We shall see if/when I get a reply.


[quote name='Anna1983' post='1859854' date='May 6 2009, 07:06 PM']Also, I notice lots of people are apposed to them, why is this do you think? It seems as if the Pope has approved it, Do the Neo-Cats consider them Catholic in the same way as everyone else?[/quote]
The two thing's I don't like about neo way are that...

#1. They (at least the group here) seems to put neo-way above anything else. They wanted my brother to miss my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary so that he could attend one of their weekend conviences. He didn't. They also asked my friend to miss seeing her all time fav hardcore christian band in concert so that she could attend one of their confession services. This friend has just been to confession the past weekend. They kind of have the attitude that neo-way is your way to God, and that missing it is choosing the world over eternity. This could just be this group, though.

#2. One of the things that they taught was that the only way to overcome evil was to do nothing. I pretty much disagree with this 100%. Again, this could just have been this group.


Yes, neo-cats consider themselves just as catholic as anyone else. They don't take vows or anything, they're not a third order. And yep, JP2 approved this group.

[icelandic_iceskater]

[quote name='Anna1983' post='1860600' date='May 7 2009, 09:44 AM']What sort of liturgical practices do they have?[/quote]
Their mass, or "Eucharist" as they call is pretty much the same as ours, except that..

-It's just with neowayers (and the occasional friends or guests)

-Some of the music they use is written by Kiko, their founder. All the music is approved.

-After the readings they have a sort of "reflection/echo" where anyone can talk about how the reading touched them, etc.

-They use more of a bread rather than a wafer for communion... but it's still legit, though, wheat & water. It's just baked differently.

-after the eucharist is over, everyone gets up and kind of does a dance around the alter. (at the one I went at, we used a small room in a building separate form the church. It has an alter in it, but is also used for talks and whatnot. The Eucharist is not present there) It was a dance of joy, and if you didn't want to participate you didn't have to. And note, this was not during the mass. It was after, without the Blessed Sacrament present.


They also have their confession service whathaveyous. That's basically just readings w/ echos, music, then confession.

[cmaD2006]

I participated in the neo-catechumenal way as well ... the only thing I'd correct on what was said is about the Saturday Mass. The gathering is late enough such that it is no longer Saturday Mass but the Sunday Vigil Mass.

And the group I participated with I don't remember that they ever said that in order to combat evil you did nothing.