At first I was afraid to start writing I must confess that I still feel a little overwhelmed by the idea of doing it, but I think it is necessary, both for me and for everyone to whom this reflection can serve.
Despite I feel that I have been chosen, as well as all the human beings that inhabit this world, perhaps not in the magnitudes presented to me by the Neocatechumenal Way, but I feel that God has a plan with me, that is not within the Way (neocatechumenal) to which I belonged by regulation for more than ten years. I say 'by regulation' because somehow I was involved in the NCW through relatives, my cousins, who also belonged for years to this group.
I was called to be part of the Way in my youth, at the age of 21, and although I initially refused to belong to this group, I received the initiation catechesis together with young people forced by their parents, althoug them were very excited by the step that represented this (to join your own community, not your parents' one).
I must clarify that my denial was never based, at that time, on the fact that the practices of the Way seemed bad to me, but because I considered that was not appropriate for me, anyway the love for a woman made me to accept. I thought that if my in-laws and my sister-in-law were in the NCW, and my cousin, that would not be bad for me.
When I first came to the initial catechesis, what I saw changed my perspective on the Way, since at least half of the attendees were young people like me, so I was able to empathize with the group. Most of these young people were children of catechumens and some were also required to receive catecheses as I said earlier.
I think that all of us experienced the same, there was born a friendship that with the passage of time was being fortified, arriving in some cases to a more formal relationship. I am almost certain that this was one of the factors that most influenced our stay in the community, our youth, our complicity and our rebellion were fundamental so that we could not get out of the Way and stay together.
And although I know all of us had the hope that maybe there something could point the best way to our lives, for us little or nothing mattered the rules, the commandments or the "Word of God."
And so I spent more than ten years, with my girlfriend, into the NCW, with the weekly celebrations, the convivences being part of our relationship.
Now that I've been away for years, being a large family father, a spinach still makes me question about my role there, and I have drawn some conclusions from the sectarian behavior that is lived there.
Yes, sectarian, cultic, as I will explain later.
Now that I've been away for years, being a large family father, a spinach still makes me question about my role there, and I have drawn some conclusions from the sectarian behavior that is lived there. Here are some of the ideas I've been discussing for the last three months.
And if there is any doubt, I still believe in God and the Catholic Church more than in the Neocatechumenal Way. I believe in a God of Mercy, and not in God who wants to see me suffering. It has cost me a lot to change it, affected by the NCW, although I am glad that I have at least given it up.
1-The Neocatechumenal Way: A sect/cult?
To avoid further scandal, I will start by defining why I say the NCW is a sect. The most practical definition of cult, which can be found in any dictionary, indicates that it is a religious group separate or opposed to the orthodoxy of certain traditional religions.
With this commentary I can quickly refute my first statement and I can say that I am wrong, because the Neocatechumenal Way is not separated from any religion since it is part of the Catholic Church, much less is opposed to the beliefs of this.
However, forming groups that have different celebrations than those performed by parish dispositions, with rites totally different from those which are used in normal celebrations, is not to be separated from the traditional religion, in our case, the Catholic one?
And if the NCW does not oppose to main Catholic religion rites, then why does the Way take part in the "great assembly" (for regular or Sunday attendees) meanwhile forcing ''common catholic' people to have separate celebrations, and why neocatechumenal celebrations can almost never be shared with those who do not form part of the neocatechumens?
It is clear that at least the Way does not have as an end for its members to participate in the rest of the celebrations of the Church, since they think it is enough to comply with the Way. This has created a great loss of faithful to the Sunday masses, for example, which is one of the Catholic celebrations par excellence. (NT: Of course, the Way substracts assistants to Sunday masses, despite they sell the illusion that it would increase the participation of mature in faith catholics and despite the lies told by Kiko and his well trained G. Gennarini and rest of catechists, who affirm -to shout up Arinze and Vatican- that neocatechumenals assist Sunday masses frecuently, at least one monthly).
Continuing with the question, if we see some of the conclusions of the German sociologist Max Weber and the theologian Ernst Troeltsch, who were the first to define the concept "cult", among some of the main characteristics of this type of groupings they say while the church does not demand special qualities nor established conditions for the entrance into its bosom, in the case of a cult membership is a choice and must be deserved.
This reminds me of one of the phrases I heard most from catechists: "None of you is worthy of this Way, but God has wanted you to know Him so that you will find salvation".
God? Are you sure God has wanted this? Sincerely I do not believe it, because if it was true then Jesus would have told to build the Neocatechumenal Way instead of His Church. It is time to stop putting words in the mouth of God, He is not wrong.
Based on other philosophical references on cult is the definition of the German philosopher Ernst Troeltsch, who described it as "a small group, composed mainly of poor individuals who, renouncing the world, seek a personal and direct brotherhood." This definition would have been an accurate definition of my community.
For his part, the British sociologist Bryan Wilson contends that cults place great emphasis on their exclusivity, strict compliance with moral and doctrinal rules, thinking that they do constitute an elected group that encourages lay participation, expressiveness and spontaneity, literal interpretation of doctrine, recurrence in the themes of sin and redemption, insist that salvation should not be sought outside the group, but in the group of the elected.
I myself have been surprised by this since none of those authors referred to the Neocatechumenal Way; many of them wrote it before the NCW saw the light.
Leaders of the NCW defend themselves against accusations of being a cult saying that they are being persecuted.
2. The worrying psychological manipulation.
Something that worried me a lot since I started to investigate the characteristics of the cult: the mechanisms of psychological manipulation used by those who govern these groups to lead the conditioning of their members.
The first thing I would like to attack is the strategic "brainwashing", of which I feel victimized.
By belonging to a cult, the person modifies his behavior, product of the constant ideological and propagandistic attack, which is a process given so subtly that the subject himself barely perceives it. Many times this process can be defined as a "conversion", but think how much such conversion can be true if it is the product of a constant brainwashing and when experiencing it the person does not even feel satisfied with. In my opinion conversion should be a spontaneous process, something that is born of the person and flows naturally, not the result of a series of pressures from people who say they know what God's plan is for each of us. Even more when they are people who -just like us- can barely manage their own life and their families.
In addition, does the conversion of a person who realizes the need to make a radical change to his/her life through God, have the same validity as that conversion of someone who is obliged and unhappy to comply with the orders of a group of people? And at the end of the Way, will that person be able to say with all his heart and with all his spirit that he has attained divine grace and absolute happiness?
Why to be subject to what a small group of people want? Does not this seem strange? Ironically many of the people I met on the NCW are the most rebellious I have ever encountered in life, but they are docile to the words of the catechist.
They (the catechists) are chosen very carefully, not anyone can be chosen. They must be diligent people, something pleasant, but above all they know how to speak. Practice gives them the rest. Thus they learn to convince, while they are convinced.
It's like a big chain. In the Way you are taught to admire Kiko, according to them he is the maximum, because he came up with the brilliant idea of creating the Neocatechumenal Way while he had abandoned his riches and gone to live with the poor. Almost the story of a Saint: a pagan who found among the poor the wealth of a Way which God had prepared for humanity. Oh my God!
"As Kiko is the closest thing to a living saint, and I want holiness, and I can be like Kiko, then I must imitate him," so the catechumens, or at least those most trained in doctrine, think.
And this Kiko Arguello knows them all, and he has all of them at his feet. He invites catechists to convivences each year, so that they could "transfer" to the rest of the faithful his teachings, based entirely on what "the Lord" has enlightened him during this time.
In fact, those convivences are a total transcription of the original convivence with Kiko, which is quoted entirety. These appointments go from catechist to catechist until it ends in catechumens without rank. All based on Kiko's interpretation of the Gospels and his points of view.
Sometimes I think this chain is the most dangerous thing of all; Perhaps there are good intentions in the catechists; Maybe Kiko himself is someone's victim; Perhaps there is something deeper behind all this that I have not yet been able to perceive, and I do not speak of the Holy Spirit and His charity, of which many are lacking, but something of which I am absolutely certain is that in these convivences we were taught that maybe that was the last word and there is no other, and that we have only to "obey". And so it is done.
Almost always when the message is brought by them, you are encouraged, because it is something that will make you feel good, and in theory it will be so. Of course, up to a point. The experience of the convivence is very pleasant because it is the ideal of many of us, who overwhelmed with our lives demand a respite from all that makes us suffer: our work, studies, family, lack of company, etc., So, something is set in motion in the person who feels very deeply involved, in addition to appealing to something very present in each one of us: the need for the sacred and the search for the meaning of our lives.
You are made to accompany your "brothers", people you have been close to during the last year, with whom you have shared and lived and feel attached.
When you take part in the Neocatechumenal Way, you can easily trust your "brothers and sisters", but what is not known is that this is one of the mental processes used in psychotherapy as a tranquilizing effect. It is sometimes incomprehensible how there are those who feel better and are able to face their own life's problems, with more serenity and confidence, when they are with their community brothers and sisters, yet it is difficult for them to talk to their husbands, parents, relatives, bosses, and friends in privacy.
What happens is that according to psychologists, a group of people who make up an organization, becomes the unconscious projection of the reassuring figure father / mother, this is what is used in so-called group therapies, which -although it will cost a lot of psychological effort for the participants- is a stimulant to face the fears of each one and to learn to accept them more than to surpass them.
Therefore, although at first time there may be much suspicion for revealing intimate details of personal life, as time passes, that suspicion is fading and it is very common to see that during "the petitions" as during "the echos" anyone prayed aloud, freely, expressing their feelings, opening themselves more and more to sincerity.
This, I understand, is a preparation for future rituals. But it does not stay there. This apparent liberation may in the long run be very damaging, as this creates an ambiguous dependency among all members of a community, as each time the more private and hidden details of their lives become known, this becomes something that binds them more to the Way and prevents them from leaving it in the moment they do not feel comfortable or when they think they do not find God there.
This conviction that salvation is found only in the NCW and nowhere else is reinforced by the hackneyed thesis of the catechists that when one leaves the Way one is outside the Church. Before any attempt at abandonment, that persuasion acts in the act, and they begin to blackmail you through all the "evil" they already know of you, arguing that "outside the Way you will be in death because this is the way the Lord has chosen for you".
In the end the psychic damage is such that many people are convinced that the Way is their religion, and when they abandon it, they also abandon all their connections with the Catholic Church. This, in particular, is my case.
But once inside is little what can be done. All the time the person is surrounded by people who seemed very anxious to see a brother stumbling. Unintentionally, the community puts great pressure on its members, who are subject to an "iron discipline" in the Way.
Many times the catechumens themselves, even more so your own brothers, will be eager to see you fall.
A great indifference is created against those who are not part of the Way. Whoever does not belong to the Way is then sharply excluded. Incredibly among the excluded people are even Christians who are part of the Church, people active in other Catholic movements, and even despised Catholics who go to Sunday Mass.
This, ironically, demonstrates how capable catechumens are of loving their enemy in the dimension of the cross. The blessed and so false cross that they make you follow, which is nothing more than the reflection of your deepest fears. Something with which he can control you.
The manipulation goes so far that on some occasions, members of the community are practically pushed to say everything they think in front of their own family and friends, causing them serious emotional damage. And as if that were not enough, the catechist usually interrogates more and more thoroughly, to know all the secrets that the person keeps.
The most recurrent psychological threat in the catechumenate, which is also his strongest strategy to keep you inside was: "When you leave you will become an unhappy person, and you will no longer be able to say that you did not know the catechumenate."
Catechists manipulate people's consciences, lowering their self-esteem to unhealthy levels, impose the "will of God" as if they were the only possessors of the truth. But ... what if God wants something else for me? How could I know God's willing if I am always with them around me all the time?
Within the NCW, the self will is lost, it must be subject to the will of the catechists, who seem radical fundamentalists. Reminding me in some cases of Islamic radicals but in the heart of the Catholic Church not by violent encouragements, which are not given, but by the ways and the postulates.
3-Slavery Commitment
Although from the beginning of the Way it is not evident, with the passage of time the almost imperceptible control that is exerted on people becomes obvious, forcing them to have relationships almost exclusively related with life in the community.
Initially, taking part in two weekly celebrations and their respective preparations seems somewhat light, but little by little, the individual is encouraged to fulfill the so-called "tripod" (weekly celebration and Eucharist and monthly convivence), which is, according to them, the pillar of their conversion. Occasionally, there are also convivences of the beginning of the year, visits of catechists, announcements four times a year, and maybe a new "step" with its respective convivence and meetings.
And that is not all, since you are told that you should not put your "interests" first and second your commitment to the Way, that is to say that are not more excuses like classes, work shifts, family and even other activities of the same Church, Before all is your commitment to your community.
Little by little, you change your habits and attitudes, exactly what you previously criticized in other religions, now it seems fantastic; You slowly adopt a particular language, both oral and corporeal. You are familiar with the terms "the word", "the bag", "the catechist", "Kiko and Carmen", "celebration", "tripod", "convivence", "obedience", "lutes" "The Lord will provide", "monition", "the echo (of the Word)", "preparation", "superb", "scandal", "responsible", "psalmist", "your cross".
But language is just a detail, many things in your life, especially your habits are changing so that it is only the things of the Way are allowed to produce harmony with the spirit, so the Wath is the only thing that brings satisfaction to you lifetime. In addition, by fulfilling the duties of the Way, people are compelled not to think more about their situation, and when they express their doubts they will be so busy "preparing," "celebrating the Word," "making bread," or "arranging the flowers ", you barely will have some time for your own personal arrangement.
But if doubts arise even in the middle of a celebration, the most correct answer is that catechists will have to talk about it with the older catechists; And as the catechists know very well what the sinful life of each one has been, it will simply be used to conditioning you, and in the end you will be convinced that there is nothing better to live than the Way. The time will come when everybody will be totally convinced that catechists are never wrong and that they are truly the only ones to whom God wants to give the truth.
4-Controlling conduct, dissimilar to the Church
One of the most serious things that happens within the Neocatechumenal Way is the control over the emotions of the person, based on the most vulnerable sections of each person as guilt and fear.
There is also a latent sense of humiliation towards people. It is always said that every person is the worst garbage existing in the world, and maybe that may be true, to some extent, but who said we are the only ones? Our history is the same story of our family, our friends and our neighbors who are not in the Way. It would not be fair for ourselves to say that we are more trash than them. Why? Because we knew the Way and they did not? Or is that we forget that we are facing a merciful God, who is aware of that ... who knows everything that happened and what will happen. He loves us whether we are garbage, or we are purity.
Enough with only the catechists can separate the garbage, when in the end, you realize that you begin to be a true trash when you enter this blessed Way, because it seems that, in fact ,that is what they want, that you become a trash. As it is possible that one of the favorite encouraging phrases of many neocatechumenals is to say that "the community begins to grow when they begin to fight among them and they throw all the garbage everyone has inside."
Is this a way of God? When we have been told all along that God is love. The Catholic Church itself reminds us that above all we are saved by the love of God and this makes us feel the joy of his mercy even in the midst of our miseries. But many things in the Way are very different from what the Church preaches.
It is practically inculcated to the members of the Community that one forms part of a privileged elite in the Church, destined to bring the individual salvation (in this much is emphasized: you can not save anybody else).
"The Lord has chosen you and invited you and not anyone else" I heard many times. This is where I realize that, despite being a plan with an end so incongruous to what we should expect from the Church, it is a well-crafted idea. Phrases like the above and similar ones allow people to believe that they have been "specially chosen", thereby unconsciously satisfying their own frustrated sense of self.
One of the most disturbing things is the interpretation they give to the passages of the Bible, since they are taken literally. In the case of: "I assure you that whoever for the sake of the kingdom of God has left home, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children, will receive much more in this world, and the world to come will receive eternal life "(Luke 18: 29-30), the premise was"if your couple stands before your way, despise her/him! And the same with any of your family: children, brothers, parents or anyone who wants to keep you separate from the Way.
Those who direct the Neocatechumenal Way boast that they have millions and millions of followers and this is true. Although suddenly, no one has ever mentioned the fact that the number of people who have left it, is at least five times the number of members. What do I use to say this? Simple probability, I remember my first community, it was something more than 30 people of which in five years there were scarcely 8.
The worst of leaving the NCW is the condition of suffering that is acquired. Those who leave, often no longer have faith. This is contradictory, because when you are inside you feel bad because you have no faith, but at the same time you want to forget it forever and it means you want to forget everything related with faith. Then, that is not at all good for restoring our relationship with God. It makes you feel shameful.
Of course for me it is more shameful that after years and years and years of NCW, some communities are still so hypocritical, arrogant, selfish, careless, frivolous, arrogant, and more sinful than people who have never heard of the Catholic faith.
They sow hatred, they create unpleasant situations and they use lies of all kinds to justify; There are fights, they insult themselves, they judge themselves, they point out, even without looking at their own truth.
It is difficult for such a "new man" to arise in such environments as this, on the contrary it facilitates developing affective imbalances and spiritual deviations, even to embrace other sectarian groups or the worst of all, become atheists. I want to make it clear with this, I support 100% Catholic doctrine, although I agree with it on many things but not on others.
5-The neocatechumenal style
Another characteristic of catechumenals is their obsessive zeal for the things of the Way. The celebrations that the communities perform do not have as essential base the temples of the Church. The cross, the lectern, the Bible, the tablecloths, the bread, the wine and absolutely everything used, must be signed by "Kiko". Even the psalms, and some songs that some passages of the Bible and poems of theologians which have inspired Arguello, take their own rhythm, and this one is inviolable.
That is why everybody who has been accustomed to living in this Way for years finds incredibly difficult to separate it from the relationship which may have established with God.
It creates a psychological dependency that causes the person to lose his/her critical and logical faculties of what makes him/her a true Christian. We see how little by little our faith is lost in that world of incongruities.
Although many, when are inside, would feel that this is not what God wants for us and we dare to criticize the NCW, there is very little courage to take again the reins of our life and leaving it, because it is nearly impossible to stop identifying the NCW with the Church, and as the philosopher Betrand Rusell pointed out at the beginning of the last century, human beings need to feel the protection of an older brother over their heads. Appropriately many of us seek that protection in the Church.
Fortunately, also the Church is a place more spacious and free than the church which Kiko presented to us, and the Church is willing to accept us as we are, without asking us for much more than fidelity in return.
A clear example of the control the NCW exerts on its members is during the celebration of the Holy Week, the most memorable celebration for the Christians. Here, although the Church celebrates its own celebrations, the Way requires its members as a priority to attend to those organized by it. At least very beautiful celebrations but with a background of exclusivism.
This "Easter triduum" culminates in the celebration of the Easter Vigil, held in the early morning after the Vigil celebrated by the Church and which in essence is liturgically the same. Very few catechumens participate in both Vigils because physically it would be very tiring.
The next day, Sunday of Resurrection, when the Church celebrates the Mass on Easter Sunday, catechumens will not be able to attend because they are very exhausted by their previous celebration along all night. Sometimes at the precise moment of the Easter Sunday Mass, some neocatechumenals are still dancing during the party on the restaurant where they have had the paschal dinner.
6-If the Way is not for you
Criticizing the Way while being into is not easy. When I belonged to a community, where one could say that I was one of the most rebellious in terms of commitments, I often wanted to question it but neocatechumenals reacted violently when someone did. The first reaction of catechists is to avoid and avoid answers, but they can deal with that, Kiko has already given a couple of arguments to face people like me. The only bad thing is that they used them all time and unfortunately I learned them.
One of the first things they will tell you -when you question the truth of the Way- is that then neeocatechumenals are persecuted through it and that the Way has many enemies. It even goes so far as to say that the Devil is everywhere. Every time there was an empty chair in a meeting, they said, "The Devil is sitting there". What a martyrdom!
Another important characteristic that stands out from the sects is precisely this, it has the necessity of creating an external enemy against whom they can fix their individual fears and anxieties. Do you see how dangerous it is?
The neocatechumenals "believe they are better than the others" , they "impose their presence as the only way to vivify the Church", they "divide parish communities with harshness, misunderstandings and suspicions."
7-La marcha
Muchos catecúmenos pierden su identidad y su vida en el Camino al no ocuparse en sí mismos durante años con muchas actividades, preparaciones, celebraciones, pasando a través de diferentes pasos o algo más.
Lo peor es que esto se hace pensando en que llevando a cabo estas acciones, la conversión llegará. Pero, señores, la conversión llega cuando uno quiera y no necesitas llevar a cabo tantos sacrificios para darte cuenta, sólo es cuestión de aceptar a Dios y él sabrá cómo guiarte.
La gente parece tan embobada con la idea de la vida eterna que ofrece el Camino que deja pasar por alto todos estos detalles. Pero estoy seguro que hay algo oculto detrás de todo esto, los hechos hablan por sí solos. ¿Por qué los textos y las enseñanzas de Kiko están rigurosamente mantenidos en secreto? ¿Por qué se generan tantas criticas contra el Camino? ¿Acaso han considerado alguna vez que las críticas pueden sólo haber sido inspiradas por amor a la verdad y no hechas por los demonios perseguidores que tienen rencor hacia ellos? Y si conocen tanto la bondad que tiene la palabra de Dios ¿Por qué nunca han visto la respuesta de Dios en su propia escritura?
Many catechumens lose their identity and life on the Way by not taking care of themselves for years with many activities, preparations, celebrations, going through different steps or something else.
The worst is they think when carrying out these actions, their conversion will come. But, gentlemen, the conversion comes when you want and you do not need to make so many sacrifices to realize, it's just a matter of accepting God and He will know how to guide you.
People seem so enchanted with the idea of eternal life offered by the Way that they overlook all these details. But I am sure there is something hidden behind all this, the facts speak for themselves. Why are Kiko's texts and teachings strictly kept secret? Why are there so many criticisms against the Way? Have they ever considered that criticism can only have been inspired by love of truth and not made by persecuting demons who have a grudge against them? And if they know so well the goodness of the Word of God, why have they never seen God's answer in His Word "for faithful love is what pleases me, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not burnt offerings" (Hosea 6,6) ?
First let's make something clear. I do not consider that the Neocatechumenal Way itself is a bad idea as a way to reach a life that pleases God, but I think its objective is distorted, in other words: it is misdirected. But not because of those who join seeking a way to approach God, but because of their leaders who offer neither inner peace nor an approach to the things of God, based solely on the argument that this is not an easy way, to the point that it seems that many of the actions will be carried out with full intention, planned and treachery to make suffer the members of the group. However, it does not cost them anything, then they can easily break families and cause economic problems for homes that barely reach stability.
I, based on my personal experience, saw with my own eyes how they destroy marriages. The clearest case I can cite is that of the daughter of one of the most important catechists in my parish, and why not, the most unsufferable and the meanest, who together with his wife ... wanted to take control of everything that happened there as if the group were theirs. They married their daughter with the first guy who she took home, not realizing that he was of a inferior social status. In less than two years the couple had dissolved, and the reasons were all related with the Way.
8-The cross
One of the Rites of the Way, better known as "rite of the cross", the first scrutiny, is essential to realize the maneuvers that will come later. Sometimes it takes a dramatic level for the person who is experiencing it, just when each "brother" and "sister" has to say, in front of the whole community and their catechists, which is their "personal cross". This moment is marked by very powerful emotions because to make known your personal cross - often confessing it with tears and with great internal resistance - has a cathartic and liberating effect. Many people will lie at this point because they feel embarrassed. It is the first strong step on the Way and many people leave it then. But catechists reaffirm those who remain "not all are called to be salt and light. The Lord has invited you"®
A seemingly strong "me" has been created. It takes an special bran identity: to be the one called to a mission for the church whose opportunity to be called is not given at all. Subtly, the shirt begins to tighten. It tightens even more for those people who have an "me" that is weak and unstructured. These people, after a few years, are unable to find anything out of the Way or anyone else than their "brothers and sisters" in their community.
I will never forget how they persuaded people to tell them what each one's cross was or was not.
One year after the first scrutiny, the "Shema" (Israel, listen) is generally confronted. Here they bring the idea that a signal is necessary to deprive of goods, which created real emotional tensions in many people, even being able to unbalance some of them. It does not mean just only the Way caused their imbalance, but the Way does produce damages in non well centered people (N.T: due to their previous life experience, their problems, etc.).
FUENTE: http://laverdaddeloskikos.blogspot.com.es/2013/05/el-camino-neocatecumenal-otras.html
PROPAGANDA MACHINE: https://es.aleteia.org/2017/05/25/misioneros-con-sus-11-hijos-en-guatemala-se-quedaron-sin-dinero-y-ocurrio-algo-asombroso/
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