Preach the Gospel, obey the Church, Pope Francis tells Neocatechumenal Way

30 Jun 2022

By Contributor

By Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News Service

Pope Francis shakes hands with Kiko Arguello
Pope Francis greets Kiko Argüello, co-founder of the Neocatechumenal Way, during an audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican 27 June, 2022. The faith-formation based communities were preparing to send 450 families and priests to evangelise and educate in mission to every continent. Photo: CNS/Vatican Media.

Evangelisation efforts must be characterised by zeal to preach the Gospel and obedience to Christ and his Church, Pope Francis has told members of the Neocatechumenal Way.

“Go forward! Courage! Thank you for your generosity,” he said on 27 June.

“Do not forget the gaze of Jesus, who sent each of you to preach and obey the Church.”

Meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, members of the Neocatechumenal Way were preparing to send priests and 450 families out on mission for the evangelisation and education to every continent.

Pope Francis speaks to members of the Neocatechumenal Way during an audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican on 27 June 2022. The faith-formation based communities were preparing to send 450 families and priests to evangelise and educate in mission to every continent. Photo: CNS/Vatican Media.

Founded in Spain in the 1960s, the Neocatechumenal Way was defined by St John Paul II as “an itinerary of Catholic formation.” According to its website, the Way is present in 134 countries “with 21,300 communities in 6,270 parishes, as well as 1,668 families in mission.”

Kiko Argüello, who co-founded the Neocatechumenal Way along with the late-Carmen Hernandez, thanked Pope Francis for “accepting to send these families” as missionaries.

He also announced that the Archdiocese of Madrid will officially open the sainthood cause of Hernandez, who died in 2016.

In his off-the-cuff remarks, Pope Francis reflected on Jesus’ call to His disciples to preach the Gospel and to baptise. The communities formed in countries around the world, he said, must grow “in their own ways, in their own culture.”

“This is the story of evangelisation. All equal in terms of faith,” he said, “but all with the modality of their own culture or the culture of the place where the faith was preached.”

Pope Francis waves as he leaves at the end of an audience with members of the Neocatechumenal Way in Paul VI hall at the Vatican 27 June, 2022. The faith-formation based communities were preparing to send 450 families and priests to evangelise and educate in mission to every continent. Photo: CNS/Vatican Media.

But while the Gospel may adapt to different cultures, the same Spirit remains, he said.

“The Gospel of Jesus Christ – not mine, it is Jesus Christ’s – adapts to different cultures, but it is the same. Faith grows, faith becomes inculturated, but the faith is still the same,” Pope Francis said.

He thanked the members of the Neocatechumenal Way for their “missionary spirit” and encouraged them to be docile to “the Spirit who sends you; docility and obedience to Jesus Christ in His church.”

“Everything within the church, nothing outside the church,” Pope Francis said. “This is the spirituality that must accompany us always: to preach Jesus Christ by the power of the spirit in the church and with the church.”