Kiko Meets Pope Leo XIV

 

Carmen Hernandez Remembered for Virtues, Vices

The cause of the canonization of Carmen Hernandez was held on December 4th in Madrid, Spain.  At the event, Kiko shared his difficult relationship with Carmen as they worked together.  However, this kind of relationship can also be found in the Neocatechumenal Way communities.  According to Kiko, Carmen had always looked down on him until she saw the Bishop next to Kiko.  The article below can be found here. 

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An ‘unbearable’ saint? Neocatechumenal Way’s Hernández remembered for virtues, vices

CNA Newsroom, Dec 6, 2022 / 14:30 pm

The diocesan phase of the cause for the canonization of Carmen Hernández, co-founder of the Neocatechumenal Way, was held in Madrid Dec. 4.  

At the ceremony, Kiko Argüello, who co-founded the movement with Hernandez and worked together with her for more than 50 years, shared some candid remarks about the difficulties of their relationship.

“The Lord united Carmen and me together for 52 years in a wonderful mission of evangelization,” Argüello said as he began his reflection on her life.

But their journey together wasn’t always easy, Argüello continued, departing from his text, describing the co-founder of these communities of Christian initiation as someone “unbearable.”

“I had a hard time accepting Carmen, until the Lord spoke within me that Carmen was … unbearable. Well, you all know her, right?” he said, to the smiles of many of those present.

“She was a not very likable woman from Soria [a town in Spain] and she told you the truth every time she saw you. She said: You’re part of the Cursillo, man. So, for her, being in the Cursillo was contemptible,” Argüello went on.

Getting back to his text, Argüello said that in reality God revealed to him that she was “a very great grace” and that he had placed him alongside her so that “she would tell me the truth.” And so Argüello was able to accept Hernández “as sent by the Lord.”

“I suffered until I realized that she came from God,” reiterated Argüello, who then lavished praise on her.

“Carmen was a stupendous woman, an extraordinary woman who did a lot of good not only for the members of the Neocatechumenal Way but [also] for the entire Church,” he said.

Hernández was “a masterful genius for freedom and love for the Church,” he said, and noted that he never flattered her.  

“She always told me the truth” and “was clearly aware that the mission God had given her was to support, defend, and correct me for the good of the Neocatechumenal Way,” Argüello acknowledged.

Consequently, outside of Church circles, she was not known because she “never sought prominence.”

The co-founder of the Neocatechumenal Way also highlighted that Hernández was “a true prophet, a true missionary, who lived the faith to a heroic degree. An exceptional woman, very important for the Church.”

‘She looked down on me’ until she saw the bishop

Argüello also told how Hernández didn’t have a high opinion of him when they met in the 1980s in the poor neighborhoods on the outskirts of Madrid.

He had felt a call from the Lord to live with the poor and social outcasts in the shantytowns of Palomeras Altas near Madrid.

“The providential presence of the archbishop of Madrid [Casimiro García Morcillo] who went to the shantytowns was what made Carmen definitively collaborate with me,” he recalled. “Until she saw the bishop in my shack, Carmen looked down on  me.”

“When she saw the bishop in my shack, from that moment on, she changed, as if to say: ‘The Church accepts Kiko.’ How difficult!” he exclaimed wryly.

“Carmen saw the presence of the Church in the archbishop and completely changed her attitude towards me. With the presence of Morcillo, she saw the promises that God had made to her in Israel come true,” he stressed.

Argüello recalled that the presence of Hernández in that place “was like a farm field that God had prepared to place within the Church. What God made us experience in the midst of a world of poverty, the Holy Spirit had already prepared for his entire Church.”

‘Thank you, Carmen’

Argüello concluded his reflection by saying that he hoped the canonization process serves to thoroughly examine the life of Hernández, “which was often a crucified, silent, and suffering life, like a dark night.”

So that “her virtues come to light, many of them hidden, many to a heroic degree,” he added.

Argüello said he was grateful “to have known her” and to have “been able to work with her in the hard work of the Gospel.”

Opening Ceremony of Beatification for Carmen Hernandez

 The following is the video of the opening ceremony of Beatification of Carmen Hernández, which can be found in YouTube. The video is long but worth watching.

Release from the Way

 The following article can be found here:

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When a charism or an ecclesial reality is found in a foundational state, “the founder is not replaced, he continues on; that is why the Decree speaks of a ‘founder in life’.”

This is what the Holy Father has declared in the meeting with all the associations of the faithful, ecclesial movements and new communities, organized by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life on September 16, 2021.

With these words, the Holy Father confirmed what he had already declared to the International Team of the Neocatechumenal Way, Kiko Argüello, Father Mario Pezzi and Ascensión Romero, in the audience which he granted them on September 3.

On that occasion, the Pope had recognized that the nature of the Neocatechumenal Way is not to be an ‘Association’ or to be a ‘Movement’, but rather a ‘Christian Initiation’ that leads to the rediscovery of Baptism and the divine life in us.

Also in the meeting with the Dicastery, the Pope stressed: “We have to understand that evangelization is a mandate that comes from Baptism; whoever has Baptism has the duty to evangelize.”

In the audience on September 3, the Holy Father renewed his trust in Kiko and his team, encouraging them to continue the mission that the Lord has entrusted to them and also rejoiced at the beginning of the canonization process of Carmen Hernández in the archdiocese of Madrid.

Cardinal Pell Mentions Kiko

The following article is an Easter message from Cardinal Pell.  You can find article here.




Cardinal George Pell said Friday that suffering can be offered to God for good, and that Christians see Christ in the suffering, and are obliged to help them. His message came days after his release from prison, and amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

“The sexual abuse crisis damaged thousands of victims. From many points of view the crisis is also bad for the Catholic Church, but we have painfully cut out a moral cancer and this is good. So too some would see COVID-19 as a bad time for those who claim to believe in a good and rational God, the Supreme Love and Intelligence, the Creator of the universe,”  Pell wrote in an Easter message published by The Australian April 10.

“It is a mystery; all suffering, but especially the massive number of deaths through plagues and wars. But Christians can cope with suffering better than the atheists can explain the beauty and happiness of life,” the cardinal added.

Pell was convicted in December 2018 of sexually assaulting two choirboys at the Melbourne Cathedral in 1996. On April 7, the Australian High Court unanimously ruled that the evidence presented during the trial would not have allowed the jury to avoid reasonable doubt and ordered Pell’s acquittal and release after more than 400 days in prison.

The High Court’s Tuesday decision marked the end of a nearly three-year legal process which began in June 2017, when the cardinal was charged with several counts of sexual assault dating back decades. The majority of these charges were dropped before they could be brought to trial.

Pell, who was most recently the Archbishop of Sydney before he left Australia in 2014 for a Vatican position as prefect of the Secretariat of the Economy, has returned to Sydney after his release from prison.

In his message, the cardinal acknowledged his incarceration, writing that “I have just spent 13 months in jail for a crime I didn’t commit, one disappointment after another. I knew God was with me, but I didn’t know what He was up to, although I realised He has left all of us free. But with every blow it was a consolation to know I could offer it to God for some good purpose like turning the mass of suffering into spiritual energy.”

“The only Son of God did not have an easy run and suffered more than his share. Jesus redeemed us and we can redeem our suffering by joining it to His and offering it to God,” Pell added.

In a reference to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, Pell noted that in times of plague and difficulty, Christians were unique in the ancient world for their commitment to nurse and care for the sick.

Pell cited Kiko Argüello, co-initiator of the Neocatechumenal Way, for having noted how “a fundamental difference between God-fearers and secularists today is found in the approach to suffering."

“Too often the irreligious want to eliminate the cause of the suffering, through abortion, euthanasia, or exclude it from sight, leaving our loved ones unvisited in nursing homes. Christians see Christ in everyone who suffers — victims, the sick, the elderly — and are obliged to help,” he wrote.

The 78-year-old’s release from prison this week has been controversial, and was met with protest in Australia.

Hours after Pell was exonerated, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne was vandalized. The cathedral’s door was spray-painted with a cartoon image of a devil, along with the message “ROT IN HELL, PELL.” Other doors were daubed with upside-down crosses and the words “NO JUSTICE,” “PAEDO RAPIST,” and: “The law protects the powerful.”

Archbishop Peter Comensoli of Melbourne told Australian media that while he was upset about the vandalism, he was “not entirely surprised.”

“There remains such strong emotions around all of these matters,” Comensoli told Australian news network 3AW.

The cardinal’s Easter message included a proclamation of the Gospel: that Jesus of Nazareth died, and was resurrected bodily. “It was a return of his entire person from death, breaking the rules of health and physics, as Christians believe this young man was the only Son of God, divine, the Messiah...who redeems us, enables us to receive forgiveness and enter into a happy eternity.”

On April 7, the day he was released from prison, the cardinal told CNA that "prayer has been the great source of strength to me throughout these times, including the prayers of others, and I am incredibly grateful to all those people who have prayed for me and helped me during this really challenging time.”

The Pope to the NCW

Zenit news did not report anything of what happened on September 20th when the Pope received Kiko Arguello.  However, an anonymous poster gave an Italian weblink, which gives a detailed account of what happened on that day.  You can find the story here.  My computer translated the website. 
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The Pope to the Neocatechumenals: "I respect you very much. Come on, go ahead "

Kiko Arguello met Francesco in view of the "Asian mission" in Macao

The International team of the Neocatechumenal Way is carrying out various cohabitations that mark the beginning of the course. In this context, the past Friday 20 September in the morning, Kiko Argüello, María Ascensión Romero and Father Mario Pezzi , had a private audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican.

The initiator of the Way, Kiko Argüello, wanted to personally thank the Holy Father for the opening of the new Redemptoris Mater College in Macao (China) for Asia , dependent on Propagande Fide and expressly desired by the Pope himself.

St. Francis Xavier

Argüello donated to His Holiness a drawing, made by himself for this occasion, of St. Francis Xavier, patron saint of the missions, the great apostle of Asia, who died at the gates of China, whose incorrupted arm is venerated precisely in Macau, the place chosen for the new Redemptoris Mater, in continuity with the work of evangelization that the Church has been carrying out for 5 centuries. The Holy Father welcomed the design of St. Francis Xavier, with joy and gratitude.

"I respect you very much"

A few days before, at the end of the general audience, on Wednesday 18 September, Pope Francis wanted to personally know and greet the formators and seminarians of this Redemptoris Mater before their departure for Macao. His Holiness encouraged them with these words: "I respect you very much! A very important mission awaits you in Asia! Come on, go ahead! "

The Pope and Kiko

The Pope thanked Kiko Argüello for the evangelizing mission of the Way: "I am happy because you carry out the most important thing in the Church which is evangelization and you do it without proselytism, but through witness".

At the same time the Pope stressed the importance of the presence of families on mission who with their witness attract pagans and those who are far from the faith.

Francesco then welcomed Kiko's proposal for a new sending of families on a mission that will take place in 2020.

At the end of the audience, which took place in a climate of great cordiality, Francis encouraged   Kiko to move forward, and the whole Neocatechumenal Way continued with the announcement of the Gospel.

Pope Francis Receives Kiko Arguello

On September 20, 2019, Pope Francis received Kiko Arguello, the Founder of the Neocatechumenal Way.  You can find the following article here.

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“May the Lord Render to You All the Good You Do to the Church”

Thursday, September 20, 2019, Pope Francis received Kiko Arguello, Founder of the Neo-Catechumenal Way, in the Vatican.

Pope Francis wrote personally to Kiko Arguello on the occasion of the celebration of his birthday in Madrid on January 9, 2019.

“Dear Brother, I don’t want this day to pass without sending you some lines of closeness and fraternal thanksgiving for your 80 years. Thank you to God who chose you and thank you for your fidelity. May the Lord render to you all the good you do the Church,” reads the message reported by “Vatican News” in Italian.

“I’m close to you; I pray and I accompany you. Happy Birthday. I hope that the members of the Way will make you a cake with 80 candles. And, please, don’t forget to pray for me. May Jesus bless you and may the Holy Virgin protect you. Your brother, who loves you and admires you, Francis,” adds the Pope.

On January 8, during the Mass at Saint Martha’s, the Pontiff hailed the “apostolic zeal” of Kiko Arguello, who thanked him in a message, expressing “his affection and proximity, assuring him his prayers for his Petrine ministry.”

On September 8, 2018, Pope Francis surprised Kiko Arguello, calling him on the telephone to express his greetings to the participants in a meeting organized at Porto San Giorgio, Italy. “Always look toward the Lord! Forward!’ said the Holy Father, after Kiko Arguello expressed to him the affection and support of the Neo-Catechumenal Way.

On May 5, 2018, the Pontiff met with thousands of members of the Neo-Catechumenal Way, gathered in Rome for the 50th anniversary of the Movement’s presence in the Eternal City.

The Pope had already received the Founder in the Vatican on September 4, 2017. On the same day, a letter of encouragement of the Pope to this Community was made public.

Every year Pope Francis receives families belonging to the Neo-Catechumenal Way that he sends on mission to the whole world. In 2016, he exhorted them to “protect” their charism, in face of the risk of being closed-in on themselves or of believing themselves “better than others.”

Kiko Arguello’s symphonic opera — who is, however, a painter by formation –entitled “The Suffering of the Innocents” was performed at the Vatican, in the framework of the Jubilee of Mercy, and on the occasion of the liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, on October 7, 2016, in Paul VI Hall.

The Neo-Catechcumenal Way, founded in the ‘60s by Kiko Arguello and Carmen Hernandez, now deceased, is an Ecclesial Movement present today in 134 countries of five Continents, with some 20,000 Communities and Seminaries. It’s an “itinerary of Christian formation” born in the underprivileged suburbs of Madrid, Spain.

Pope's Letter To Kiko

Message of the Holy Father for the 80^th birthday of Kiko Arguello

“May God repay you for all the good you do for the Church” This is what Pope Francis wrote in a personal birthday message to the Initiator of the Neocatechumenal Way, who yesterday in Madrid turned 80 and celebrated the event with a Mass and a lunch with those closest to him.

“Dear brother, I do not want you to spend this day without sending you a few lines expressing my closeness and fraternal thanksgiving for your 80 years. Thanks be to God who has elected you: thank you for your faithfulness. May the Lord repay you for all the good you do for the Church. I am close to you, I pray and I accompany you. Happy Birthday! I hope that the brothers and sisters of the Way prepare you a cake with 80 candles. Please do not forget to pray for me. May Jesus bless you and the Holy Virgin protect you.

Your brother, who loves you and admires you,

Francesco”

Kiko’s thanks to the Holy Father

Kiko, who welcomed this gesture by the Holy Father “with great enthusiasm”, had already thanked the Pope for the words spoken of him Tuesday morning at the end of the Mass at Casa Santa Marta when he was thanked for “the apostolic zeal with which Kiko works within the Church”. Kiko with Fr Mario Pezzi and Maria Ascension Romero, who together form the International Team responsible for the Neocatechumenal Way, had written a note expressing gratitude to the Pope, renewing “his affection and closeness to the Pontiff assuring him prayers for his Petrine ministry”.

The Meeting at Tor Vergata for the 50 years of the Neocatechumenal Way

The last meeting between Pope Francis and Kiko Arguello took place on 5^th of May 2018 on the occasion of the 50 year anniversary of the first communities formed in Rome, at Tor Vergata. On that occasion the Holy Father, speaking of the strength of the announcement of the Gospel in the Neocatechumenal Way, had said that “reasoning and arguments do not convince people, rather it is life that attracts them, not the capacity to impose oneself, but rather the courage to serve. And you have in your DNA this vocation of announcing the Gospel living in families, after the example of the Holy Family: in unity, simplicity and praise. Carry this family atmosphere to the many desolate places lacking affection and love”.

An Ecclesial reality present in 134 Nations of the World 

           

The Neocatechumenal Way is an itinerary of Christian Initiation, today present in 134 Nations on the five continents, with thousands of communities, born in the 60’s in the shanty towns of Palomeras Altas in the outskirts of Madrid.

Pope Sends Birthday Wishes To Kiko

Francisco "Kiko" Arguello turned 80 years old.  Pope Francis sent him birthday wishes to him.  You can find the story here.  Happy Birthday, Kiko!  

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Pope sends birthday wishes to Kiko Argüello

Marking the 80th birthday of Kiko Argüello, founder of the Neocatechumenal Way, Pope Francis thanked him for all the good he has done for the Church.

By Linda Bordoni

Pope Francis has sent a message of greetings and good wishes to Kiko Argüello who celebrated his 80th birthday in Madrid with a Mass and a special lunch with his closest friends and collaborators.

Argüello founded the Neocatechumanal Way with Carmen Hernandez in 1964 in Madrid. It is a charism within the Church dedicated to Christian formation.

"Dear Brother” the Pope writes, “I don't want this day to go by without sending you a few lines expressing my closeness and fraternal thanksgiving for your 80th birthday”.

He goes on to say he thanks God for having chosen him to carry forward his particular mission and for his fidelity.

“May the Lord repay you for all the good you do to the Church. I am close to you, I pray and accompany you” he writes.

Surprise Call From Pope Francis

An anonymous poster gave me a weblink of Pope Francis making a surprise call to Kiko Arguello. His/Her comment can be found here.  The weblink was in Italian. However, my computer was able to translate it into English.  Below is the English translation from my computer:
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Neocatechumenals, a surprise call from the Pope to 800 seminarians

Francesco called Kiko Argüello during a meeting in the center of Porto San Giorgio: "Look to the Lord". The Way reiterated esteem and affection for the Pope

SALVATORE CERNUZIO

VATICAN CITY

« Shhh , there is the Holy Father». In the center of the Neocatechumenal Way of Porto San Giorgio, in the Marches, a meeting was held with about 1,200 people between rectors and seminarians, when the initiator Kiko Argüello received a surprise call from Pope Francis. "Thank you, Holiness, we love you so much. Let's applause! "Kiko exclaimed, putting the phone in a loud voice and bringing it close to the microphone so as to make everyone hear the voice of Francesco:" Tell us a word ". 

The Pope greeted all those present and recommended: "Always look to the Lord. Come on!". Then, while the assembly remained silent, waiting for the Pope to continue, Francesco did not hear from the other end of the line and said: "Do you understand?" Between the laughter and a new, prolonged, applause the answer was a resounding: "Yes!" 

"Thank you Father ... It gives us great consolation. We are here with 120 rectors and all the seminars, a show! All full of enthusiasm and willing to give their lives for the Church, "Kiko told the Pope, reiterating his affection and esteem for him after the attacks received in recent weeks on behalf of all the members of the Neocatechumenal Way. 

At the meeting of Porto San Giorgio, guided not only by Argüello but also by María Ascension Romero and father Mario Pezzi, responsible for the international team, there were also 11 bishops, itinerant catechists of the nations where the Redemptoris Mater seminaries are located, numerous priests , seminarians with a few years of training behind them and others who will start their journey towards the priesthood in one of these diocesan and missionary institutes. Currently, 122 Redemptoris Mater seminars are held around the world, the last two being erected in recent months in Colombia and the Dominican Republic. 

The meeting in the Marches ended on Sunday 9 September with a Mass celebrated by Father Pezzi who, in his homily, addressed in particular young people encouraging them to "not worry about the future and not be afraid to let themselves be led by Jesus Christ". Kiko also intervened at the end of the celebration by inviting future priests to read and scrutinize the word of God every day and "to announce the Kerygma", because "this is what really heals people".  

After  the great event presided over by the Pope last May 5 in Rome, in the Tor Vergata esplanade , for the fifty years since the birth of the first Neocatechumenal communities in the Capital, the Cammino organized two international vocational meetings in Italy and Spain last August . 

The first took place on August 12 in Rome, at the Circus Maximus, as part of the pilgrimage organized by the CEI for boys and girls from every diocese of Italy in view of the October Synod. The young people of the Neocatechumenal itinerary - about 12,000 - took part in the events on the calendar: the Saturday evening prayer vigil presided over by the Pope and the Sunday morning meeting in St. Peter's Square. In the afternoon, they then found themselves again at the Circus Maximus, where the vicar of Rome, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, was waiting for them. On that occasion - informs a note from the Neocatechumenal Way - about 200 boys, a hundred girls and families became available, respectively, to enter the seminary, embrace the consecrated life or leave on mission. 

Instead, around 300 boys, 300 girls and 200 families responded to the "vocational call" in the meeting that took place a few weeks later, on 26 August, in San Pedro del Pinatar, in Murcia (Spain). In total, over 25,000 boys and girls from not only Spain, but also from Portugal and other European countries attended the meeting presided over by the bishop of the diocese of Cartagena José Manuel Lorca Planes. 

The Recognition of Kiko Arguello

Over the years, Kiko Arguello, the Founder of the Neocatechumenal Way has been recognized by the Holy See for his contribution to the Catholic Church.  The jungle can call Kiko evil and a heretic, but the recognition he received from the Pope and institutions tell a very different story.  These are his following recognition. 





1.  In May 2009, Kiko Arguello was awarded a Doctorate by the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family.  According to news article:

The institute, situated at Rome’s Lateran University with other locations around the world, announced that on May 13 it will invest as doctors “Honoris Causa” both the Spanish founder, Francisco (Kiko) Argüello, and an Italian sociology professor, Pierpaolo Donati.

A statement from the institute notes that the contributions of both men to the field of family studies are valued as “authoritative references for its own teaching and research work.”

 2.  In June 2013, Kiko Arguello was given an honorary doctorate from the John Paul II Catholic University in Poland for his contribution in the renewal of the Church.  According to news report:

Kiko Argüello, initiator and responsible of the Neocatechumenal Way, was formally invested with an honorary doctorate in Sacred Theology by the Catholic University of John Paul II in Lublin, Poland yesterday.

According to the University, Argüello was awarded the honorary doctorate “for his valuable contribution to the renewal of the Church, carefully following the indications of the Second Vatican Council, bringing back Christians who have strayed from the ecclesial community to the sources of faith that come from the Bible and from the liturgy, in having initiated, with Mrs. Carmen Hernández, a Post-baptismal institution, an extremely precious work for today’s world, known worldwide as the Neocatechumenal Way. This form of Christian initiation, enhanced by the beauty of the new aesthetic, places today a work of evangelization and re-evangelization, all over the world; it prepares the missio ad gentes; actively intervenes so that Christianity and Judaism can come close to one another, defends the values ​​of life and human dignity, marriage and the Christian family. 

3.  In August 2014, Kiko Arguello was confirmed as the Consultor for the Pontifical Council of the Laity by Pope Francis for another five years.  According to news report:

Pope Francis has confirmed the initiator and leader of the international lay movement the Neocatechumenal Way, as a consultor for the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

Kiko Argüello will serve for a five-year term. This confirmation is in addition to his nomination in 2011 as consultor of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. 

The international leader of the Neocatechumenal Way has belonged to the laity council since his appointment in 1993 by Blessed John Paul II, a nomination that continued for the rest of that pontificate and later on, under Benedict XVI. 

Argüello has participated as an Auditor in various Synods in the past several years, the most recent being the Synod on the Eucharist (2005), the Synod on “the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church” (2008) and the Synod on “The New Evangelization for the transmission of the Christian faith” in 2012.

  4.  In May 2015, Kiko Arguello and Carmen Hernandez received honorary degrees by the Catholic University of America. According to news report:

The Catholic University of America (CUA) has announced that they will confer honorary degrees on Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernandez, the initiators of the Neocatechumenal Way on Saturday, May 16th, 2015.

The conferral of the honoris causa by the only Pontifical University in the United States was proposed several years ago and was decided following Pope Francis’ meeting with the Neocatechumenal Way on March 6th.

During that meeting, in which 250 families were sent in mission, the Holy Father defined the itinerary of Christian formation as “a true gift of Providence to the Church of our time.”

Pope Francis Meets Kiko Arguello

Good news!  Pope Francis met with Kiko Arguello, the Founder of the Neocatechumenal Way on Monday, September 4, 2017  See the weblink here.

NCW Communities and Priests of Guam Recognized In Denver

In Denver, Colorado, the communities and priests of Guam were recognized.  They briefly spoke of the persecution we are facing in Guam.  Our brothers and sisters around the world are praying for us. So courage!  As they say, the persecution is good for us.  It brings us closer to Jesus Christ.  We are one with Christ as they persecute us.  The communities of Guam are in the front row.  When they were called, you can see them waving a big Guam flag!  :-)     

NCW Gathering In Denver

Earlier this month, our catechists announced that Kiko Arguello will be going on a pilgrimage from North America to South America.  One of his stops would be at Denver, Colorado.  Some of the brothers in the Way in Guam have attended that gathering in Denver while others continued on to evangelize in other Pacific islands in the region.  Some went as itinerants and mission families.  In Denver, Colorado, alone approximately 1400 faithful stood up for the priesthood, consecrated life, and mission.  The island of Guam was also mentioned in the Denver news report. According to news report from Denver:

On March 11 in a Boulder stadium, nearly 800 men and women said yes to God’s call to priesthood and consecrated life, and 600 families volunteered to go on mission.

Their enthusiastic response gave witness to their deep faith and the presence of the Holy Spirit, said Archbishop Samuel Aquila.

“When we see young men… young women… and families who are willing to surrender their lives [to God], it is the action of the Holy Spirit and only God can bring that about,” the archbishop joyfully told the crowd at the Coors Event Center.

The vocational calls ended the lively, daylong assembly of 12,000 members of the Neocatechumenal Way from 16 states—stretching from Hawaii to Florida—and from Guam.

The Way is a Vatican approved faith-formation process based on the early catechumenate of the Church. More than 1 million people across the globe belong to it through small, parish-based communities.

Way initiator Kiko Arguello, a Spanish layman, led the gathering. He shook off altitude sickness to lead spirited hymns and passionately preach the good news of salvation before making vocational calls. Archbishop Aquila prayed over those who answered them. 

Members of the Way at Queen of Peace Church in Aurora, Mark and Naomi Fritz and their six children were among those who volunteered to go on mission to de-Christianized areas of the world to be a sign of Christian family life.

“I feel called to give my life for whatever God wants,” Mark, 38, told the Denver Catholic. Head of an engineering firm drafting unit, he said that following his own will “never led me anywhere good. It left me as a single father raising a child alone, unhappy and angry.

“I see in my history that when I follow God’s call, it leads to happiness,” he asserted. “Now I’m married with six children and a seventh on the way. I always thought this would be the worst place to be, but I’m happy.”

Naomi, 39, a homemaker, said meeting a Way mission family in her homeland of Japan, where Christians make up just 2 percent of the population, planted the seed for her own call. Their witness prompted her return to the faith, which she had left while in college. 

“God showed me [through them] that the Family of Nazareth exists,” Naomi, said through happy tears. “I’m very grateful.”

Born in the slums of Madrid in 1964 as a fruit of the Second Vatican Council, the Way aims to bring people to mature Christian faith. The process, which takes several years, is known for transforming lives, renewing marriages and spurring vocations.

The Way, according to Rome Reports, is the Catholic group that has helped to open the most seminaries. Some 2,400 seminarians—all from Way communities—are in formation at 120 Redemptoris Mater seminaries across the globe, including one in Denver.

The seminaries form diocesan priests who get missionary training and are willing to go anywhere in the world their bishop sends them. 

Typically the Way holds vocational meetings following international World Youth Days. But the death last July of Way co-initiator Carmen Hernandez, a Spanish laywoman, impelled the aging but zealous Arguello to embark on an apostolic journey to raise vocations and mission families.

Starting March 5 in Montreal, Canada, he and Father Mario Pezzi, an Italian priest who helps Arguello lead the charism, then stopped in Baltimore before visiting Boulder. From there, Arguello said they would travel to Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Mexico.

“We are seeing miracles happen in these meetings,” Arguello acknowledged. “God passes and boys stand up!”

The miracles include the women and families who also answer the call to be agents of the new evangelization.

At the Vatican last March, Pope Francis blessed 350 Way families before sending them by lottery around the world to grow the Church in secularized societies and rekindle lukewarm Christians.

“The Church can see a new Pentecost,” declared Arguello. “They go out [as at] the cenacle announcing the Gospel. The first apostolic model is exactly what we are doing.” 

Interview With Kiko Arguello

Below is an article of Kiko's interview with Zenit regarding his book entitled "Annotations."  
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INTERVIEW: Founder of Neocatechumenal Way on a Book of Reflections, the Past and the Future

“I am embarrassed to read it because it is very intimate … But perhaps it will do someone good. In that case, blessed be the Lord!”

“You have opened a fissure in my breast, Lord. It is a dark abyss, a universe that longs for you. I lose myself in it and suffer.”

“Grant me to love you very much, Lord.”

“The Christian’s weapon is prayer.”

These are some of the prayers, reflections, poems and thoughts that Kiko Argüello annotated in a small notebook over the course of nearly 25 years and which have now been published in a book. “Annotations,” the title of the volume of the initiator of the Neo-Catechumenal Way – the second after the 2012 “The Kerygma in the Shacks with the Poor — was published by Cantagalli with a Preface by Cardinal Ricardo Blazquez, president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference.

The book was presented in late November at Rome’s Olympic Theater by Argüello himself together with Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and with Graziano Delrio, Minister of Infrastructures and Transports. Before the meeting, Argüello gave an exclusive interview to ZENIT.

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ZENIT: How would you describe your book? And what was the need to publish these reflections that in parts are so intimate?

Argüello: They were the sufferings I had, moments of spiritual “regurgitation,” of outburst, during which I began to have a dialogue with myself writing in a notebook. I wrote these annotations year after year … I never thought of publishing them! From 1988 I carried these papers in my bag and given that they were being destroyed I asked a friend to transfer them onto a computer. He said to me: “Kiko, these are very intense, why don’t you publish them? It would do much good to the brothers of the Way, because your soul is <revealed> here.” I thought about it and also on the instigation of BAC (Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos) [Library of Christian Authors], I then decided to write the book, which I consider a sort of “spiritual testament,” a gift for my Communities founded at Madrid, at Rome <and> in the world, which I love very much. Here it is (he shows me the volume). I am embarrassed to read it because it is very intimate … But perhaps it will do someone good. In that case, blessed be the Lord!

ZENIT: Did Carmen’s death in July contribute to it in some way? [Carmen Hernández, the co-initiator of the Neo-Catechumenal Way]

Argüello: It certainly sped up the publication, because it made me realize that soon I will also die. Then I thought that someone might find these sheets. Who would publish them? Who would present them? Perhaps, I reflected, it’s better that I do so before dying.

ZENIT: In connection with Carmen, there are so many without and within the Way who wonder if she will be replaced …

Argüello: We thought about it and weighed thousands of hypothesis, but we decided not, while I and Father Mario (Pezzi, the priest <and> third leader of the international team of the Neo-Catechumenal Way, ndr) are in <good> health, we go forward as two apostles. Some brothers help us in evangelization and in other everyday practical things. But we are not thinking of replacing Carmen, also because she is irreplaceable.

ZENIT: Do you miss her?

Argüello: O yes and not a little.

ZENIT: What memories do you have of her who was your companion of evangelization for such a long time?

Argüello: Carmen was wonderful. <She had> an immense love for Christ. God joined us and prepared us for this great work among the poor. We took Christian initiation to the parishes, at least to those who wanted it, and people discovered what it means to be Christians. To be Christians is the greatest thing there can be in life. It is participation in Christ’s life, in divine life, in the love of God who loves in an astonishing way to the point of dying crucified as the least of the earth.

ZENIT:  In a few years the Neo-Catechumenal Way will celebrate its 50th anniversary. What is the first thing that comes to mind in reviewing this half-century?

Argüello: I think above all of the fact that, together with Carmen, we travelled throughout the world: the whole of America, the whole of Asia, the whole of Europe preaching the Gospel in Churches, in Squares, in Stadiums. How many young people we met – thousands! How many vocations to the priesthood, to consecrated life, to the mission the Lord awakened! Truly, God did not want us to stop for an instant … He did everything, with His zeal to save humanity, and we were only instruments.

ZENIT: Are you satisfied?

Argüello: Yes, I’m happy, but always suffering! I consider myself a sinner, a poor thing, I don’t know why God gives me these sentiments …

ZENIT: Honestly, what do you believe is the contribution that the Way has given to the Church?

Argüello: It was the popes themselves who always recognized the great contribution of the Neo-Catechumenal Way to the Church, not least Pope Francis who loves us very much and has described it as “a gift.” I believe that the Way also served to come out of the limits of clericalism that, as the Holy Father often says, is one of the “cancers” of the Church. Fifty years after the Council, there are so many who do not endure a layman saying certain things; it’s an anomaly, or that the Lord can give a charism to a layman, because this means to have “power.” This still makes us suffer somewhat today, but Christ suffered much more than us.

ZENIT: Is a novelty foreseen for the future?

Argüello: The future? The future is in God’s hands! We continue with evangelization in the parishes: there are so many new ones in the world that have opened the doors to this reality of Christian initiation, and then, the missio ad gentes, which are an aid especially for families, so that they remain united.

ZENIT: Does evangelization continue in Asia?

Argüello: Absolutely! The Pope has already sent some 400 families to Asia: Mongolia, Laos, Vietnam and also, little by little, China is opening up. A few days ago I was speaking with the Archbishop of Beijing who said to me: “We need you, because we have an urgent need for a new catechumenate.” They have opened so many churches, but there are Chinese that know nothing about Christ, about Christianity; they don’t know how to educate them, how to bring them close to the Church …. I said: “We are preparing 20,000 priests for the Church in China, but we are still very few, what to do? On the other hand, what are 20,000 priests for more than 300,000 Churches? Nothing. China is immense, but now it is in a kayros moment, it is in need of apostles. And we try, in so far as possible, to foster evangelization. I said we are preparing a group for China, in the Redemptoris Materseminaries, to take Jesus Christ <there>. In China, in fact, now there is only money … Money, money, money …And, as the Pope always says, money is anti-God.

ZENIT: Instead in Europe, he has said on several occasions, there is a risk of apostasy …

Argüello:  No, no, there isn’t a risk of apostasy; Europe is already in apostasy. And this is a grave fact, it’s the preparation of the anti-Christ. In the Second Letter to the Thessalonians, Saint Paul says: “First there will be rebellion and then the man of lawlessness will be revealed,” but “the Lord will slay him with the breath of His mouth.” We think that this breath is the proclamation of the kerygma. Therefore, for the coming months we are preparing a mission worldwide of thousands of apostles who, two by two, “without a purse or money,” will proclaim the love of God on the street.