Takamatsu, Japan, Jan 24, 2011 / 13:31 pm
Bishop Osamu Mizobe of Takamatsu, Japan has told Catholics in his diocese that since the "problem" of the Neocatechumenal Way "has become a worldwide issue," he has decided to publicly explain his decision to continue the suspension of the movement until a papal envoy reports on the matter.
A pastoral letter from Bishop Mizobe was released on Jan. 20 by the Union of Catholic Asian News. It was written in response to the "painful admonition" he had received from the Vatican that he needed to definitively decide his policy for the Way in his diocese and that inaction "would not be admissible."
The Neocatechumenal Way's activities have been an evident source of concern for the bishops of Japan recently. Last fall, they decided to suspend its activities after nearly 30 years of catechetical formation work in parishes across the nation.
“In those places touched by the Neocatechumenal Way, there has been rampant confusion, conflict, division, and chaos,” wrote the president of the Japanese bishops, Archbishop Leo Ikenaga of Osaka, in the Japanese bishops-sponsored weekly "Katorikku Shimbun" on Dec. 20.