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Neocatechumenal way’s statutes sized up by canon law expert,
Juan Ignacio Arrieta, Professor at University of the Holy Cross
ROME, 30 JUNE 2002 (ZENIT).
The Holy See formally approved the statutes of the Neocatechumenal
Way last week. Here is an assessment of the statutes by Juan Ignacio
Arrieta, professor of canon law in the Pontifical University of the Holy
Cross. Among his other duties, he is a consultor of the Pontifical
Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts.
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THE STATUTES OF THE NEOCATECHUMENAL WAY
Canonical observations of Professor Juan Ignacio Arrieta
By a decree of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the statutes of the
Neocatechumenal Way were approved on the 29th June. This brings to a
close an interesting process of institutional reflection on the reality
of the Way, brought to completion with the encouragement and blessing of
his Holiness John Paul II, who sometime ago requested that the work be
finished so that the Neocatechumenal Way could receive a juridical
expression within the law of the Church which conformed to the apostolic
reality which this Way represents.
As may be recalled, it was the Pope himself who last year, with his
letter of the 5th April, addressed to Cardinal James Stafford, president
of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, entrusted to that dicastery of
the Roman Curia the work of bringing to a conclusion the process of
juridical approval of the statutes of the Way. By doing so he assigned
to this dicastery the necessary competence in relation to other
interested dicasteries of the Curia.
The drafting of the statutes of the Way was concluded, therefore, in
close dialogue and collaboration between the Pontifical Council for the
Laity and the leaders of the Way. The final text was approved therefore
by this dicastery which in this way was exercising the mandate given by
the Holy Father. As well as this, in the above letter, the Holy Father
expressed his wish that, once the statutes were approved, even if in
this case it was not a question of an international association of the
faithful, it would be the role of the Pontifical Council for the Laity,
as distinct from other organisms of the Holy See, to continue to
accompany the apostolic activity of the Neocatechumenal Way.
The text of the document approved "ad experimentum" for a
five-year period—an elementary prudence normally employed by the Holy
See when giving juridical approval to whatever kind of institution—clearly
shows that the principle task accomplished in these years of work on the
statutes has been that of reflecting, in an orderly way and in writing,
using juridical terminology and with complete faithfulness, that
concrete experience of Christian life which is the Neocatechumenal Way,
in the manner in which it has developed throughout the five continents
from the '60s onward. The statutes are nothing other than the synthetic
expression of a reality which already has a life in the Church and they
have made present, yet again, the fact—something inevitable, and
indeed often necessary, in the life of the Church—that life precedes
law. This is why the approval of these statutes by the Pontifical
Council for the Laity, which acts in the name of the Holy Father,
represents above all the confirmation of an apostolic praxis lived and
consolidated in recent years.
A program of formation, not an association
The statutes of the Neocatechumenal Way which have been approved consist
of 35 articles divided into six sections, plus a final indication
regarding the process of revision of the statutes. The above-mentioned
articles basically describe the principle contents of the catecheses of
the Way, the means of and the times for their transmission, the
organization of these catecheses in various stages and relations with
the local Church authorities.
Attached to the normative body of the text are about a hundred notes
which refer above all to texts from Scripture, from the Fathers of the
Church or from the magisterium; texts which in these years have been of
fundamental importance in giving shape to the various aspects of this
experience of Christian life. It follows that these notes, taken
together with the text, are of particular importance for an adequate
interpretation of the meaning of the articles which constitute the main
body of the statutes.
In these statutes, the Neocatechumenal Way is considered neither as an
association, nor as a movement, or as a grouping of persons who
establish among themselves a special formal link for achieving
particular objectives in the Church. Those who know the Way are well
aware that none of this corresponds to the reality of its apostolic
experience.
Indeed, those who are well informed understand that, in this particular
case, a canonical option along the lines of an association would have
altered the fundamental elements of the Way, compromising essential
aspects of its apostolic dynamism. Therefore, rather than describing a
juridical entity already codified in the law of the Church, these
statutes limit themselves to presenting the juridical expression of the
reality lived in the Way, obviously in the context of what is stipulated
and required by the Church's structure and canonical order.
If we ask, however, what is the concrete juridical form of the
Neocatechumenal Way which emerges from these statutes, after a careful
reading of the document we can quite simply reply that what this text
contains is nothing other than "a Neocatechumenal Way." This
is what the first article of the statutes affirms, using the truly
definitive expression of Pope John Paul II in the letter of 30th August
1990, published in Acta Apostolicae Sedis (82 [1990] 1515): "I
recognize the Neocatechumenal Way," as the Pope said at the time,
and as the first article repeats, "as an itinerary of Catholic
formation, valid for our times and society."
In fact, these statutes constitute a kind of catechetical directory
which describes a program or, if you wish, a way of integral Christian
formation of a liturgical-catechetical nature, given that it is
primarily based on a personal liturgical experience and on a
catechetical formation incarnated in the life of the Christian.
Furthermore, the statutes contain all the fundamental guidelines for
organizing, directing and conducting this concrete program of formation.
It is a program of formation which is offered to every diocesan bishop,
who, according to canon law (Canon 775 §1), is the competent authority
for the coordination of initiatives for catechesis in his diocese. At
the same time, as a guarantee of the authenticity of the program and the
method of formation, and to maintain the necessary contacts with the
authority of the Church at different levels, the Holy See entrusts the
leadership and the coordination of the activity of the Way to an
international responsible team.
From what we have said it can be seen that the statutes do not attempt
to describe formal elements—new rights and duties, which in reality do
not exist—for those who follow this way of formation, but, rather,
simply wish to describe the contents that are to be transmitted and the
means by which this formation is to be given.
There is no need to deny that the Neocatechumenal Way in fact clearly
consists of a grouping of persons: One has only to think of the small
communities formed in parishes which remain substantially stable over
time. Nevertheless, we must emphasize that this phenomenon, in the case
of the Way, is not of an associative type. The same thing happens, for
example, within the formative structure of a language school or any
other kind of school. In these situations there certainly appears a
system of stable relations among the students who follow the courses
over a period of years. However, this does not mean that the students
establish relationships of a juridical nature among themselves, however
intense these human relations may be.
On the other hand, for example, in this language school, a definite
program of teaching has to be followed, and those responsible for
carrying it out, the professors and the directors of the school, must
keep to a methodology already clearly established, accepting the
obligations which follow from the respective positions of formation or
of direction which each occupy.
In the same way, in the itinerary of formation represented by the
Neocatechumenal Way, no new juridical relationships are established,
other than those that each of the faithful already has in virtue of his
belonging to the Church. Therefore, in these statutes a list of rights
and duties of those who benefit from this activity will not be found.
Instead, there is a fairly precise indication of the tasks that the
catechists, or those who, in complete freedom, make up the various teams
of those in charge, must perform. All of this, as I have said, is a
direct consequence of the nature of the Way, which in no way corresponds
to the characteristics of an association.
The structure of the statutes
Having said this, we want to describe, in summary form, the content of
the statutes which have now been approved. The first title describes the
"Nature and Implementation of the Neocatechumenal Way," and is
made up of four articles which outline the central organizational
aspects of the Way, in keeping with what John Paul II has affirmed on
every occasion, regarding the identity of this Christian experience.
The first article informs us that the Neocatechumenal Way is made up of
a grouping of spiritual goods—catechetical itinerary, permanent
education, service to the work of catechesis, etc.—placed at the
service of the bishops as a form of implementation in the diocese of
Christian initiation and permanent education in the faith, according to
the indications of the magisterium of the Church, in a spirit of
communion with and service to the local ordinary and the whole Church.
This formation is conducted in the dioceses under the direction of the
diocesan bishop, and, obviously, also with the guidance of the
international leadership team of the Way, which the Holy See has
indicated as the guarantors before the Church of the identity of this
formation.
The second section, "The Neocatechumenate or Post-baptismal
Catechumenate," with its 17 articles distributed over four
chapters, forms the central axis on which the statutes are based and
represents a concise and detailed encapsulation of the catechetical
content, of the formative elements and of the time frame over which this
formation is given.
In this section the fundamental elements of the Neocatechumenate are
described—those for whom it is intended; implementation in the
parishes, etc.; the beginning of the formative itinerary; its
development by means of Word, liturgy and community; and the general
description of the three different phases which compose the itinerary of
formation.
Among the articles of the second section, mention must be made of the
"Initiation and Formation to Priestly Vocation," where we find
reference to the "Redemptoris Mater" diocesan seminaries,
which is useful for understanding their essential characteristics and
their relation with the Neocatechumenal Way.
Article 18 begins by quoting a passage from the "General
Catechetical Directory" (No. 86), where it notes that, like any
other catechetical itinerary, the Way is also "a means for
awakening vocations to the priesthood and of particular consecration to
God in the various forms of religious and apostolic life and for
enkindling a special missionary vocation in the hearts of
individuals."
This is precisely the apostolic context from which the relationship
between the Way and the "Redemptoris Mater" seminaries
emerges: seminaries which are erected at the wishes of the respective
diocesan bishops, in agreement with the leaders of the Way, and
according to the norms approved by the respective diocesan bishop, in
conformity with the current "Ratio fundamentalis institutionis
sacerdotalis."
We are talking, therefore, of diocesan seminaries for the formation of
candidates to the priesthood, who are then incardinated for the service
of their respective dioceses. Their only unique characteristic is that a
specific element of their formative "iter" is participation in
the Neocatechumenal Way. It is clear, therefore, that these seminaries
must remain marginal to these present statutes. In every aspect they
come under the universal norms regarding the formation of candidates to
the priesthood and the incardination of secular clerics.
The third section examines the collaboration in the renewal of the life
of the parish offered by the communities which have finished the
itinerary proposed by the Way, and which, from that moment, enter a
process of permanent education in the faith. The fourth section is
particularly dedicated to the baptismal catechumenate and to the special
care required by catechumens and neophytes.
The fifth and sixth sections of the statutes go deeper into the
organizational aspects and the forms of service for catechesis. The
fifth section, "Forms of Service to the Work of Catechesis,"
deals principally with the subjects who, in the diocese, are to
intervene in following the activity of the Way.
It deals, first, with the diocesan bishop, who is the one who authorizes
the implementation of the Way in the diocese, who watches over it so
that the Way develops in accordance with the requirements of canon law,
presides over the more important rites of the Neocatechumenal itinerary,
guarantees a reasonable pastoral continuity in the parishes where it is
present, etc.
The text then deals with the role of the parish priests and presbyters
who exercise the pastoral care of those who follow the Neocatechumenal
Way, who normally are not presbyters formed in the "Redemptoris
Mater" seminaries. The text then speaks of the catechists and their
formation, of the itinerants—catechists and presbyters—who offer
themselves in response to the call of far-off dioceses, and of the
families on mission who, upon request of the bishops, establish
themselves in dechristianized areas or in places where it is necessary
to achieve the "implantatio ecclesiae."
Finally, the sixth section contains two articles related to the current
composition of the "international responsible team of the Way"
and to the future substitution of its members by means of election. The
leadership team is currently composed of the initiators of the Way, Kiko
Argüello, Carmen Hernández and Don Mario Pezzi, presbyter of the
clergy of the Diocese of Rome. The norm provides that, in future, after
the death of the initiators, a reasonably large college of people will
proceed to elect those who, following confirmation by the Holy See, will
assume this function for a period of seven years.
There is also a norm, Article 4, which considers the economic aspect of
this apostolic activity. It affirms the general principle that the
Neocatechumenal Way does not have a patrimony to dispose of, and that it
operates in the dioceses by means of services performed on a gratuitous
basis; in response to various necessities, spontaneous collections are
made in the communities. The only exception to this rule arises from
situations in which apostolic initiatives of greater scope may have to
be sustained. Precisely in order to meet these necessities, the diocesan
bishop most directly concerned, upon request of the international
leadership team, may consider it opportune to erect an autonomous
diocesan foundation, with juridical personality, regulated by its own
statutes.
This can serve as a summary of the content of the statutes which have
been approved by means of the decree of the Pontifical Council for the
Laity. The decree and statutes are, however, the documents as now
published.
Therefore, what the Pope had already indicated in the letter addressed
to Cardinal Stafford, quoted above, is now apparent: namely, that the
approval of these statutes establishes a clear and sure rule of life for
the Neocatechumenal Way and constitutes for it and for the Christian
faithful in general a occasion of profound joy and lively gratitude to
God and to the Church. The Pope, making clear reference to No. 30 of the
apostolic exhortation "Christifideles Laici," concluded that
this text constitutes "a new point of departure, which is the
visible sign of a mature ecclesial identity." ZE02063001
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