Denver, Colo., Jul 5, 2008 / 04:07 am
The Neocatechumenal Way has reached a new milestone in the history of their community with the recent approval of their statutes. Despite some changes to the statutes that were submitted to the Vatican in 2002, Giuseppe Gennarini, the group’s U.S. spokesman, told CNA that the new guidelines are important because they guarantee the permanence of the movement within the Church and recognize the spiritual good that comes from the Way.
The new statutes were delivered to the founders of the international movement by Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko on June 13 along with a decree of approval.
Speaking with CNA via telephone, Gennarini called the new rules a “landmark” for the Way because they involve “full recognition by the Church” and show that “the Church wants to guarantee the permanence of the movement” within the Church. He also added that the Neocatechumenal Way is “happy to offer this instrument [the movement] for the new evangelization and to the new generations.”
There are, nevertheless, differences between the statutes that the Way submitted to the Vatican in 2002 and the ones that were finally approved in mid-June. The majority of these changes occur in the 13th chapter of the regulations and are concerned with liturgical matters.