Neocatechumenal liturgy in need of reform


There was some confusion earlier in the year about the approval of the extra-liturgical ceremonies of the Neocatechumenal Way. Today, Sandro Magister has an article about Pope Benedict's attitude in particular to the way in which Mass is celebrated in the Neocatechumenal Way: That Strange Mass the Pope Doesn't Like

I have great admiration for the apostolic and evangelical zeal of the members of the Neocatechumenate. I am not particularly moved by arguments about them forming an "elite." Any group that ever did anything useful in the Church by way of apostolate was to some degree exclusive - this means nothing really much more than gathering an effective group together with a common purpose for the good. There have been many priestly vocations, in some cases reviving whole dioceses; in addition, the generosity of families in following the moral teaching of the Church is a fine example to others.

However the Liturgy does look in need of major overhaul. This problem is not confined to the Neocatechumenate. Many of the new movements encouraged by Blessed John Paul have remained stuck in a 70s-80s time warp with regard to their liturgy and find it difficult to adapt to the new situation created by Pope Benedict's Summorum Pontificum.

I pray that the neo-catechumenate will be able to preserve its powerful charism for the Church while dropping the liturgical aberrations, and that other movements will also wake up and smell the coffee.

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