Walking ‘the Way’ to Brooklyn

By Emily Chaffins -

MIAMI | For many young people of the Neocatechumenal Way of the Archdiocese of Miami, this summer was full of cross-country travel, challenges and life-changing moments.

During a 9-day trip, some 350 young people undertook a bus pilgrimage from Miami to Brooklyn. They visited churches and shrines until arriving at the Barclays Center in Booklyn (New York), where more than 20,000 people, including a total of 1,000 people from Florida alone, on Sunday, July 7, 2024, attended the 50th anniversary Mass of the beginning of the Neocatechumenal Way in the United States.

New York City was chosen as the location for the anniversary Mass because St. Columba Parish in Chelsea, Manhattan in 1974 was the first U.S. parish to adopt the Neocatechumenal Way into their community, according to the Neocatechumenal Way press release.

The Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the U.S. Archbishop Thomas Wenski and Auxiliary Bishop Enrique Delgado from the Archdiocese of Miami assisted at the celebration, along with 10 other bishops and over 300 priests. 35 seminarians from Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Mission Seminary of Miami were also in attendance. Kiko Argüello, one of the founders of the Neocatechumenal Way, joined via video call before Mass and recalled the beginning of the Way in the U.S. 50 years ago.

The concept of the youth pilgrimage to Brooklyn was not limited solely to the Archdiocese of Miami, whose youth came from 7 parishes based in areas including Miami, Miami Lakes, Hialeah, Weston, North Miami Beach, and Fort Lauderdale.

Youth from communities of the Way throughout the country spent a week on pilgrimage, visiting shrines and holy places while reading the lives of the saints and martyrs of the United States.

The Archdiocese of Miami’s pilgrimage included stops such as San Antonio’s Catholic missions and New Orleans’ famous St. Louis Cathedral. The youth also put their faith into action throughout the pilgrimage.

“We went through the French Quarter, in front of the cathedral in New Orleans, and they sang, danced, and some gave their witness. They did it all together,” said Father Emanuele De Nigris, rector of Redemptoris Mater Seminary and pastor of St. Cecilia Parish in Hialeah.

“In Texas, we sent them out in groups 4 by 4, and they did a five-hour mission, approaching people. They came back very happy because they met people who had great difficulties and suffering, and they saw that their announcement brought them some joy. Our youth came back edified to see how the Lord could use them to bring joy,” said Father De Nigris.

Additionally, the Neocatechumenal Way has a strong culture of vocations among the youth. Traditionally, some Neocatechumenal Way events involve “vocational meetings,” during which young men and women rise to their feet to indicate that they want to discern priesthood or religious life.

“I myself stood up for priesthood in 1993 in Denver after the meeting with Pope John Paul II for World Youth Day,” Father De Nigris recalled. “This is something Kiko started: we would have a liturgy, a celebration of the Word, and Kiko would give an announcement of the Good News. Then, he would ask if there were any young men who feel a vocation to the priesthood, to please stand up.”

At the conclusion of the liturgy in Brooklyn, “some 1,000 young men stood up to enter in a seminary to begin their preparation to the priesthood; another 1,500 young women stood up expressing their desire to give their life to Christ by either entering a convent or serving as missionaries: they all came forward to the stage to receive a special blessing from Cardinal Pierre and the other bishops,” according to the celebration’s press release.

An estimated 20 young men and 40 young women from the Archdiocese of Miami stood up in Brooklyn, according to Father De Nigris.

50-YEARS’ LEGACY IN THE U.S.

The Neocatechumenal Way in the United States “started very small,” said Father De Nigris.

“It started with one pastor who accepted to begin this experience in his parish in New York,” he said. “It’s very significant, 50 years later, to see what this first visit produced, all the people who came to grow in their faith and rediscover their baptism and the many fruits of conversion and vocations.”

In the United States there are 1,100 communities of the Neocatechumenal Way and approximately 300 seminarians are in formation at 9 diocesan Redemptoris Mater seminaries. In Miami there are approximately 60 communities with about 2,000 people involved in them, and 36 seminarians are currently in formation.

The Neocatechumenal Way started in Miami in the late 1980’s, brought by Latin American immigrants from countries such as Nicaragua and Colombia.

“It started in Miami with these people who had an initial experience in their own country, and little by little it spread,” said Father De Nigris. At the beginning “there was a lot of resistance. Very few pastors were open to this experience. Since the seminary was born in 2011, things began to change because more and more communities were born and pastors became more open. I would say that, from 2011 to now, there has been a huge increase in the presence of the Neocatechumenal Way in the parishes of the Archdiocese of Miami.”

Speaking of the U.S.’s 50-year anniversary in Brooklyn, he added, “As we move forward, we hope the Lord will give me and all the youth present at the event the same spirit and zeal that animated the people who brought this experience and charism 50 years ago: that we will be given the endurance to go through many struggles to bring the announcement of the Gospel through the tool of the Neocatechumenal Way.”

WHAT IS THE NEOCATECHUMENAL WAY?

The Neocatechumenal Way is a Vatican-approved revival of Early Church catechesis, started by laypeople Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernández in the 1960’s in Madrid, in response to the Second Vatican Council.

“The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that, where infant baptisms have become the norm, post-baptismal catechumenate is necessary for a society like ours which is more and more pagan-like,” said Father De Nigris. “This post-baptismal catechumenate, for people who are already baptized, is done in communities that are usually 25-50 people who stay together for years. There is a bond that is created there that is very important.”

The Way seeks to help Catholics develop a mature faith and encourage deeper involvement in the life of the church. Their unique liturgical music is a prime example of this.

“Kiko Argüello composed simple songs taken from the Bible, music meant for small communities and people with very little musical knowledge,” Father De Nigris said. “This makes it possible to have an active and lively liturgy in these small communities. The music is an expression of joy, conductive to youth. It helps promote a better and fuller participation in the liturgy,” he added.