Saturday, September 27, 2014

The Way Says "Yes" To Europe

 
Catholicism has increased mainly in the continents of Asia and Africa - continents, which are predominantly pagan. The number of men pursuing the priesthood rose more than 30% in Africa and about 29% in Asia.  Unfortunately, numbers decreased in Europe, which showed approximately 22% drop in the priesthood candidates between 2001 and 2011. 

While Kiko Arguello spoke of producing about 20,000 priests in China, the Way is also looking at re-evangelizing Europe.  The problems facing Europe are similar problems facing Guam.  The rate of divorce has increased on Guam.  Many children are being raised by grandparents or other relatives.  Couples are living together rather than entering the sacrament of marriage.  Families are being broken.  There are many children who do not even have the same last names as their parents.  Today, many people see nothing wrong with pre-marital sex, fornication, homosexuality, oral contraception, abortion, and same sex marriage.  These are things that threatens the family.   

According to news report dated April 1, 2008: 

 After 40 years of Europe saying "no" to its future, the Neocatechumenal Way is leading the way to say "yes," according to the archbishop of Vienna.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn said this at a meeting of nine cardinals and 160 European bishops who gathered March 24-29 at the Domus Galilaeae International Center on the Mount of Beatitudes in Galilee to reflect on the New Evangelization in Europe.

The participants in the meeting, which was organized by the Kilo Argüello, Carmen Hernández and Father Mario Pezzi, founders of the Neocatechumenal Way, were greeted by a telegram sent by the Pope's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who sent greetings and the blessing of Benedict XVI.

“In the last 40 years," said Cardinal Schönborn, "Europe has said ‘no’ to its future three times: in 1968 when it rejected 'Humanae Vitae'; then, 20 years later, with the legalization of abortion; and today with homosexual marriages.”

He continued: “It is no longer a moral question, but it is a fact. For example, in Germany today for every 100 parents there are 70 children and 44 grandchildren. In two generations the population will be cut by half.

"This is an objective ‘no’ to the future. The only voice in Europe that has promoted and is promoting the future is the Catholic Church with Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and so many others.

"The Neocatechumenal Way is without a doubt an answer of the Holy Spirit to this situation and I have been able to see it as a bishop and as a shepherd. I have seen parents saying ‘yes’ to life in an encouraging and generous way; they are saying ‘yes’ to the future.”

Mission

At the end of the gathering, the bishops released a joint declaration to launch the re-evangelization of Europe: "We, nine cardinals and 160 archbishops and bishops of Europe, have gathered [...] during the octave of Easter to reflect on the new evangelization in the place where Jesus proclaimed the Beatitudes, and from where he sent the Apostles for the universal mission.

"We, the bishops, recognize with gratitude that, among the many graces that the Holy Spirit has bestowed upon the Church in our times, the Neocatechumenal Way represents, with its itinerary of Christian initiation, a powerful charism to reinforce the missionary impulse that emerges from the baptismal regeneration and to give an answer to the dramatic situation of de-Christianization of Europe.

"We declare that the future of the Neocatechumenal Way will greatly depend upon the fatherly love with which we bishops welcome this charism, closely follow the Redemptoris Mater seminaries and encourage the precious families of the Neocatechumenal Communities, inserting them, more and more, into the life of the local Church."

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, archbishop of Kracow, underlined the importance of the gathering: “It is very important because morality is in a deep crisis in Europe, not just in an individual level, but in an institutional level as well.

"We need to reflect and find a way out, and we, as shepherds, must do this. Here we have an important proposal, the proposal of the Neocatechumenal Way, which is to renew the life of the family.

"The crisis in Europe emerged because of the crisis of the families, for this reason, in renewing the life of the families, Europe herself can be renewed.”

Renewal

The Neocatechumenal Way, whose statutes were approved for five years "ad experimentum" by the Holy See in June 2002, is a spiritual renewal movement at the service of diocesan bishops and pastors as a way of rediscovering the sacrament of baptism and promoting ongoing education in the faith.

The journey began in 1964 when Argüello left everything to go live with the poor in the slums on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain.

There are an estimated 20,000 communities of the Neocatechumenal Way in more than 6,000 parishes in 900 dioceses, which gather together around a million Catholics.

In January 2006, Benedict XVI sent more than 200 families of the Neocatechumenal Way on mission to dioceses around the world to areas where the Church is now absent and the number of the non-baptized is reaching almost 90% of the population.

Vatican representatives at the meeting included Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, and Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.


http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/neocatechumenal-way-saying-yes-to-europe

13 comments:

  1. Now that the Archdiocese has published its financial statement, Tim Rohr should have the decency to publish how much of our money he received from Mgr. Benavente when he was on his payroll. And for the sake of transparency he should include how much money he received from his plea for help on his blog,

    What is good for the for the goose is good for the gander. Let us hope he is man enough to tell us.

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 6:08 am.,

      It should be interesting to see the financial report of the Catholic Cemeteries, which Monsignor James was in charge of. Hopefully, that would be made public soon.

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  2. I don't think Tim will be man enough to talk about his own business. He has never done it on his blog. It is like a taboo for him. Of course because he must have things that he wants to hide. Smart guy don't talk about things that could reveal his moral weaknesses. People like "voice" don't talk about that part either! He is very curious about things in Catechism 101, but would be completely silent about Business 101! Wow. Is "voice" not the same as voice-of-tim? LMAO.

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    1. What does Tim Rohr's salary have to do with the topic "The Way Says Yes to Europe"? I guess you guys don't have anything good to say about it other than to wonder about Tim's salary.

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    2. Earnie, you are a piece of art. Why should I talk here in this blog for Tim? If you want to know something, ask him at Jungle Watch.By the way, why are you guys picking on him for his businesses? Is anything wrong with a good Catholic getting involved in business? On the contrary! We would need more people with successful business like Tim! He is truly a role model for Catholic people in Guam!

      If you would have read what I asked from Diana, you would know that I am not interested in the finances of the archdiocese, there are other good folks who care about it. My criticism is about the curious distortions of NeoCats we learn more and more about here in Diana's blog. Catechism 101 teaches that one's ethnic origin would not determine one's religion. If Jesus was born to a Jewish woman, it would certainly mean his ethnic origin is half Jewish. But his religion is not! Jesus was not a Jew. When NeoCat teaches that Jesus was a Jew, they distort the Bible, distort the CCC, the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

      The same kind of distortion occurs when NeoCat teaches that Isaac was an idol to Abraham. There is no trace to this false idea in the Bible or in the CCC. Abraham did not want to sacrifice Isaac because Isaac was an idol to him. He wanted to sacrifice Isaac because he thought God wanted this from him. Abraham misunderstood God's intention and had to pay a price of mental anguish. He suffered because he thought he had to sacrifice Isaac. But then God corrected Abraham and revealed that no Isaac or any other human kid need to be sacrificed to Him ever!

      When I provide criticism of NeoCat teachings and tenets, I am trying to correct you guys in your beliefs. I have no intention to mock or humiliate anyone. I am telling you the truth about being a good Catholic. Good Catholics accept criticism when it does not aim to put anyone down, but aims to correct their errors.

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    3. Dear voice of faith,

      Why not go into the jungle and ask Tim Rohr if Jesus was a Christian or a Jew. Then come back here and tell me what he said. Make certain that Tim published your question and his response on his blog. Could you at least do that?

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    4. Voice of faith is not Tim rohr! Tim, while corrupt , violent and assiduous liar, is very well versed in what the church teaches. While a man of the law and borderline lefrevian (I wonder if he is a holocaust denier) he knows his catechism. With him the issue is weather he is an honest but misguided crusader or if he is maliciously attacking the church hierarchy and the Way because of his shady financial dealings with Benavente.

      Voice if faith is a hippy dippy catholic who probably wears tie-die and is steeped in liberation theology and liberal history. Voice of faith is profoundly ignorant of the catechism and honestly does not understand the issues.

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    5. Anonymous at 1:03 AM, you claim to be not judgmental. Still you judge me without knowing my background. I hold a certification of religious studies in Christian theology. My view is wider than just the Catholic theology. I am familiar with interdenominational Bible studies. Yes, I even know about liberation theology. So what? Don't you like it, hmm? FYI: social justice is part of Christian teaching! CCC talks about generosity and charity in context of social justice. As followers of Christ we should strive for social justice and a caring environment for the poor, the widow, the orphan, the lame and all the oppressed.

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    6. Dear voice of faith,

      Christ built only ONE Church. Therefore, whatever you think is wider than just Catholic theology is false theology. The only true Theology would come from the Catholic Church.

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    7. Dear voice of faith,

      I believe in dialogue with the Christians, but I am not going to go by their beliefs on sola fide, sola scriptura, and the symbolic bread and wine along with other errors in their beliefs.

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    8. Dear voice of faith,
      Have you considered joinning nuns on the bus? They agree with you 100%. But the Vatican does not agree either with you or them. Yet they still call themselves Catholics.
      You are right in one thing. I was wrong to label you hippy catholic: those are the nuns on the bus. You are their ideological heir.

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  3. Meanwhile, pray for the Archbishop. I have always believed (and have often said so on this blog) that he is not of his own mind, that he is being used, that he is simply under Kiko's look at what Tim Rohr is saying in the jungle he is saying that in the jungle he always said pray for the archbishop so hes running out of things to say about the archbishop and now he's calling kiko a evil man

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    1. Dear Anonymous at 11:33 am,

      I have yet to see any solid evidence that the Archbishop is under the control of Kiko, who has never been to Guam. You only have Tim Rohr's word?

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