Pope send out 17 Neo-Cathecumenal missionary teams

(January 20, 2012) Pope Benedict XVI on Friday sent out to the world 17 groups of missionaries belonging to the Neo- Neocatechumenal Way, following the Holy See’s approval of the ceremonies of Christian initiation of the lay Catholic movement. Also sometimes called the Neo-Cathecumenate or simply The Way, the movement received approval after fifteen years of study by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Seven thousand members of the movement had come to the Vatican for the occasion. While sending out the new missionaries, Pope Benedict said the Neocatechumenal Way is an invitation to rediscover the beauty of life and faith and the joy of being Christians.” “Following Christ calls for a personal adventure of seeking Christ, but it also calls for coming out of one’s ego - the will to break the individualism that often marks the society of times,” the Pope added. Initiated in Madrid, Spain, in 1964 by laypeople Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernandez, the Neocatechumenal Way is dedicated to the Christian formation of adult Christians. Committed to the "New Evangelisation" the group also runs diocesan missionary seminaries. Each missionary group consists of three or four large families that go with a priest to live in a de-Christianized area or where the Gospel has never been preached. The 17 groups sent out on Friday is in addition to 40 others that Pope Benedict has sent in the past.