Pope sends out over 200 Neocatechumenal missionary families
(January 17, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI on Monday sent over 200 families as missionaries
to 46 countries across the globe, reminding them that the missionary commitment belongs
to the very essence of the Church and is not something optional or additional. The
Pope sent out members of the Neocatechumenal Way movement that takes its inspiration
from the catechumenate of the early Church, by which converts from paganism were prepared
for baptism. The Neocatechumenal Way, or more commonly the Way, also provides a post-baptismal
catechumenate to adults who are already members of the Church. The 230 new families
that Pope Benedict sent out on Monday during an audience with the movement’s officials
and members, will join the 600 families in 120 countries sent previously by him and
Pope John Paul II in past years. Besides, Pope Benedict also inaugurated 13 new 'missio
ad gentes' in Germany, Austria, Macedonia, France, Ukraine, Sweden, Hungary and Venezuela,
adding to the 30 already existing. He said that the purpose of ‘missio ad gentes’
is to revive Christian faith and practice in heavily secularized Christian countries
or in areas where Christ still unknown. Pope Benedict wished the missionary families
that their faith be like the light on a lamp stand so that it can show people the
way to heaven. Begun in Madrid in 1964 the Neocatechumenal Way had its statutes approved
by the Holy See in 2008. Pope Benedict wished that the Holy See’s very recent approval
of the 'Catechetical Directory of the Neocatechumenal Way,' will be a precious instrument
in contributing to a radical and joyful revival of faith in the new evangelization.