Gnostic Gneocats, Part 1

In this two-part series, we look at the inter-relationship between Jewish mysticism and Gnosticism, and their influence on the thought and teaching of Kiko Argüello.

Kiko's love for and reliance on Judaism (and assorted Judaica--eg. here and here) for his syncretic pseudo-church is well-known and well-documented. However, what might not always be as obvious is that his particular brand of Judaism tends to be more Kabbalic--more mystical and esoteric--than "standard" Judaism.

Of particular note is the Merkaba, Kiko's process of cleromancy by which destinations are determined for his Neocatechumenal missionary families and seminarians. ("How did these kids from Brazil and Kiribati and Rwanda end up all the way over here in the States for seminary?" "How did this family from the States end up in Denmark when they don't even know Danish?" That's how).

The word "merkaba" (מֶרְכָּבָ֖ה), which means "chariot," is used in the Neocatechumenal context in reference to Ezekiel 1. For instance, in the Catechetical Directory for Teams of Catechists, Vol. 1 we read:

"The God of Scripture is never immobile... Our God is the "Merkaba" (see Ezek 1), the chariot of fire, the one who 'passes'." (p. 65)

"God has exalted and lifted up this Jesus. This is why the Ascension, which we understand badly, because we believe that it is only about a Jesus who goes flying off into the air, is of great significance. You can see this already in the Old Testament: the chariot of Yahweh that passes, which is a lifting up (see Ez 1)." (p. 161)

"This dynamic passing of Yahweh can be seen throughout Scripture. Yahweh is the merkabah, the 'chariot of fire' (see Ez 1). God's appearance always causes a tension, dynamism, opens a way that is glorious." (p. 311)

"The presence of Jesus [in the Eucharist] is the chariot of fire that comes to take us to glory, to make us pass from death to resurrection." (p. 359)

"How marvelous it is that Jesus Christ goes with you and brings you on his chariot of fire and says: Come with me. We're going to set fire to the world!" (p. 411)

No fewer than five times, Kiko's guide for the initial catechesis refers to the chariot of fire, even explicitly referencing Ezekiel 1 multiple times, as well. The problem (well, the one that we'll address for now) is that "merkaba" is not a word that appears in Ezekiel 1. Its associations with that particular scripture come from the Zohar, a foundational work for the Kabbalah school of esoteric Jewish mysticism.

According to Kabbalah Online:

The Chariot described in Ezekiel's prophetic vision (Ezekiel chapter 1) is the vehicle for divine revelation in the world of Yetzira, the next spiritual world beyond the spiritual dimension of our physical world, the world of Asiya. Meditation on various aspects of the Merkava was the focus of an important stream of Jewish mysticism. Here the Zohar explains that Joseph [Gen 46:29] harnessed his Merkava - his chariot - in order to ascend to a higher level of divine revelation.

This idea of a "higher level of divine revelation" can be seen concretely and physically as well as intellectually. Let's take a look at the Porto San Giorgio, the Neocat International Center in Italy:

 The building, according to Italian author Lino Lista, has been called:

...the spaceship that takes you to heaven, a saying that descends from Kiko... The shape really evokes that of a flying saucer and, in the imagination Neocatechumenal, symbolizes Merkaba, the ecstatic vision of the divine chariot of Ezekiel, one of the biblical themes swallowed up by various modern syncretic currents of the New Age...

The mystique of Merkaba is one that leads to the vision of the throne of God and to the contemplation of the celestial world. To reach that, the ascetic must make a journey of perfection in degrees (seven levels)...

The ship that takes you to heaven, the definition of the Neocatechumenals for the building with the dome of concenctric wheels, seems to recall very well the work of the heavenly Chariot, by virtue of which, in Jewish mysticism, one is guided into the realm of the unseen, into its secrets. (Il Fango e Il Segreto [The Mud and the Secret], p. 88-90)

Lest you think this was an architectural one-off, we see a similar design on the Neocats' Domus Galilaeae complex in Israel, as well:

And the chapel exterior at the Redemptoris Mater seminary in Denver, while not explicitly screaming "flying saucer," might at least be considered subtly reminiscent of the theme:

For a final note on Jewish mysticism, we note that Joseph Weiss--a scholar on Jewish mysticism and a disciple of Gershom Scholem--writes in his book Studies in East European Jewish Mysticism and Hasidism (p. 27-42) that a group of pre-Hasidic (c. pre-1770s) Jews claimed to be pneumatic, in that they possessed the prophetic gift of Ru'aḥ ha-Kodesh (רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ; literally "the Holy Spirit") by which they could, among other things, reveal the sins of others. Where else might we encounter this idea of a small group of laymen "revealing your sins" to you and claiming to speak with a pneumatic or charismatic authority?

"The one who knows if you are giving signs of adult faith is the Apostle and the catechist, that is the one whom the bishop has entrusted with the task of leading you to faith." (p. 29, Catechetical Directory for Teams of Catechists, Vol. 1)

"You can think that you are very Christian, but then your catechist arrives in the name of the bishop and tells you that you haven't got an ounce of Christianity." (p. 199)

"The communities obey their catechists in what concerns the way. Why? Because in them they recognize a charism of God at the service of the Church." (p. 382)

"Electing a catechist is very important. God will bless you with a hundredfold in everything; there's nothing greater." (p. 407)

"You're a catechist, aren't you? I want to say something very important. We have been called into the world to do the impossible... what man can't do, what only God can do." (p. 425)

"...a catechist has to say the truth." (p. 426)

The term "pneumatic," as well as the ideas of "concentric wheels/circles" and "different levels of revelation/salvation" are not unique to Jewish mysticism. These terms and concepts also have deep roots in the Gnostic heresies condemned by the Church, and called out in particular by St. Irenaeus of Lyon in his landmark work, Adversus Haereses, or "Against Heresies."

In Part 2, we will look at the Gnostic notions of "three kinds of men," and see how Kiko has syncretized similar notions into his own movement.

Kiko and Our Lady

 

In last week's post, we remarked that the Neocatechumenal Way appears to have a vested interest in extinguishing the Marian cultus, as practices like the Rosary and private devotions such as Our Lady of Lourdes are Fatima are discouraged outside of a Neocatechumenal community context.

To wit, a friend of mine who attended the initial catechesis with me spoke to a woman after one of the sessions about saying the Rosary. The woman essentially said "oh no, I could never say the Rosary every day... it's much too hard." In another session, the catechist told us "Observing your religious practices [presumably like saying the Rosary] is not real faith." 

We then briefly alluded to some fascinating Neocatechumenal teachings regarding Kiko and Our Lady, remarking that that was a topic for another day.

And now that day has come. Here the longstanding Neocat silence on the Virgin Mary can perhaps now be better understood. Though once understood, one could hardly be faulted for wishing the silence perhaps could continue indefinitely.

Once again, we are indebted to the fine work of the Osservatorio for this information. You can check out their original Italian version from August 2022 here.

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The relationship with the Holy Mother of God is an unmistakable and distinctive feature of all saints.

We travel now with Kiko to the so-called "Loreto Stage," when in the Neocatechumenal Way the Virgin Mary is finally "delivered" to the brothers and sisters of the community, who have now reached the very last steps of their itinerary. After this, there is only the Election and the solemn renewal of baptismal promises. And then the Way is over--it takes an average of 20 years or more, and to go to this Loreto stage, no less than 15 years.

Below, we propose extracts from the mamotreto published in 1995, containing the best of Kiko's catecheses - between 1981 and 1994 - to the communities directly dependent on the team of Initiators. This is the text for the exclusive use of the Way's catechists, to be faithfully reported to their communities. These are the excerpts that seem to precisely delineate Kiko Argüello's authentic "relationship" with the Holy Virgin.

Kiko has always stated openly that the Way was directly inspired by Our Lady in a memorable vision: sensitive, intellectual, or perhaps simply an interior locution? (There have been many versions that have followed one another over the years, according to the convenience of the moment. To date, despite Kiko's countless stories, it is not yet possible to know their exact nature).

Kiko has openly despised all forms of traditional Marian worship, and finds the shrines dedicated to her unbearable. This is an indisputable fact. Kiko defines the Shrine of Pompeii as "horrible and huge," as well as useless and banal, if not misleading, precisely because of the "serial" requests for graces and miracles at Lourdes. He has never openly attacked Fatima - you understand, for the relevance she had for John Paul II. Kiko is not stupid. Finally, the Madonna of Loreto (pictured above) for Kiko is "a piece of dark wood."

Meanwhile, the "messages" of Our Lady, everywhere in the world, are always perfectly superimposable: the Heavenly Mother reveals herself (preferably to children), asks for the construction of a church dedicated to her, and invites the visionaries to mortification and to pray the Rosary for the conversion of sinners and for peace in the world. Our Lady leaves very small children with detailed prophecies to be faithfully communicated to the Pastors of the Church. She trusts them. She certainly does not speak of "small communities," in which, before applying yourself to the Marian prayer par excellence, you need to do a "catechumenate" that leads you to "adult faith." She does not send the visionaries back to Kiko and Carmen by telling them, "see you again in about fifteen years."

We must ask ourselves why Our Lady has so often made her choice fall on children - even ignorant, poor, humble children. But what does Our Lady have to do with the version trotted out by Kiko? Nothing at all.

Kiko, let's face it, feels disgusted just looking at statues of Mary--all of them, without distinction. Entering the shrines dedicated to her and erected in her honor is unbearable for him, which he openly confesses. Visiting her shrines has always provoked in Kiko an irrepressible feeling of contempt, indiscriminately offending his sublime "aesthetic sense" (it should be added that this is the same judgment he expresses towards St. Peter's Basilica itself!).

From the text of "Meeting of Carmen and Kiko with a Community after the Loreto Pilgrimage" (Rome, December 16, 1981, p. 30):

You will see how the Virgin Mary was behind it all. I remember that Paul VI received us and spoke for the first time about the Way on May 8, the day of Our Lady of Pompeii. A small sign. God has placed here as Secretary of the Congregation for Clergy, which helps and defends us, the person in charge of the Shrine of Pompeii*. Mary is behind a series of things. We arrive in Rome and Torreggiani, first of all, invites us to entrust the whole Way to Our Lady of Pompeii, our entire mission: "You can found communities by asking Our Lady to do so." So first he takes us to Naples and we go to the Shrine of Pompeii, which seemed horrible and huge... And we have come a long way.

*likely referring to the Spanish Archbishop Maximino Romero de Lema, who was Secretary for the Congregation for Clergy between 1973 and 1986. He was also an auxiliary bishop in Kiko's hometown of Madrid between 1964 and 1968 - years coinciding with the Way's infancy - and would subsequently serve as the spiritual director for the Way's Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Rome from 1987 until his death in 1996.

Let's proceed with the excerpts below.

The Two Madonnas

...We do not believe in idols. The Madonna who is in the little house is a piece of dark wood that they have recently rebuilt because the ancient image has burned out. We believe in Our Lady, Mother of Jesus. We do not say, "Ah, I am devoted to Our Lady of Loreto, I am devoted to Our Lady of Perpetual Help." Yes, you can be devoted to whatever you want but they are always representations of the one Mother of Jesus.

May it not happen like in Spain, where there are two Madonnas and one passes in the genetic code, from father to son, love for one's Madonna and hatred for the other Madonna. And when the feast arrives, a slaughter happens: they beat each other, they destroy each other, there is a total split in the town. They have been in this situation for centuries: the town is divided into two Madonnas, and there is no way of reaching an agreement. "Woe to those who touch my Madonna!" They kill you, they cut off your hand! "The Madonna of the other is worth nothing, this is true!"

The miracle was that the parish priest asked for catechesis and in the community there are brothers of both Madonnas. The miracle is that there are no longer two Madonnas but one: the Mother of Jesus. (Pilgrimage to Rome and Loreto, Sunday, December 13, 1987, pp. 45-46)

The case of the "town of the two Madonnas" is the first example that comes to Kiko's mind in carrying out his Marian catechesis. Is it surprising that, with so many Marian shrines around the world, Kiko finds nothing better to tell than this extreme case, to give glory to the Mother of Jesus? Or rather to give glory to himself? In fact, a deep-rooted situation, years if not centuries old - from a genetic code - is promptly resolved by the advent of Neocatechumenal communities in the parishes... but of course!

Our Lady, "a piece of dark wood"

Returning to talk about Loreto but, as you will read in the next excerpt, even the "piece of dark wood" gives way (like the two Madonnas) to the primacy of the Way (p. 46):

So here in Loreto the House of Nazareth is preserved, the catechumenium of Jesus, the place where Jesus Christ became an adult.

We learn with amazement that Jesus also needed the catechumenate!

By all this I mean that God had already planned everything, he had a plan that we are discovering little by little. The design of the House of Nazareth, making community in the slums like the Holy Family of Nazareth, Patrizio and Marisa to whom God was moving their hearts in their freedom: God was already thinking of doing something here... the constructions we have made according to our means; however, they are aesthetic because art is always an expression of love.

When the Church is in a moment of decline you see horrible things: if you want to see the decay of the liturgy, go to the shops where they sell liturgical furnishings and you will see chubby little Baby Jesuses, horrible dolls. It is a terrible thing. One wonders: if this is the Church, I will become a Muslim! If Catholic artists come to this, to make these cheesy images of Jesus...! There are no more liturgical books, there is no more beauty in things. We are trying to do something about it...

The "cheesy" and "horrible little doll"

Of the demolition of "devotionism"

Proceeding now with the systematic demolition of every other approach to Our Lady than the Neocatechumenal one (p. 49):

But be careful: to receive Our Lady as your mother in your home you must be a disciple, and have learned to carry the cross... We do not begin with Our Lady, doing devotionism - "Flowers to Mary, what a good mother!" - you can also say: "To Jesus through Mary." You can start like this, but they are other things for very pious, very Christian people. We started with the Kerygma... To introduce you to the Virgin Mary, there is no need to find a particular icon or apparition - which are also necessary things, which Our Lady uses to help people's religiosity. You have a much more important fact: you have the experience of history, of what the Church has done with you up to now. The Virgin Mary is the one who has taken care of you, from when you listened to the Kerygma until today.

Who if not Kiko and the Kikatechists 'took care'? Here the full identification of Kiko with Our Lady takes place, as he has done with the Lord Jesus, and before that with Moses, with Elijah, with St. John the Baptist, with St. Paul, etc.

Even the Way was a grace of the Virgin Mary: you know that we had a meeting - let's put it this way, I don't want to explain this too much - in which the Virgin Mary told us to make small communities like the Holy Family of Nazareth. That is, the Way is a revelation of the Virgin Mary to us to bring it to the Church...

Very slow Neocatechumenal "progression"

Now Kiko tries to explain why he waited so long to reveal the Blessed Mother to the Neocatechumenals (p. 50):

...Perhaps there is someone here who was very far from the Church and all that devotionism to the Virgin Mary got on his nerves; also because behind the devotion there are very neurotic, Mom-ist*, fanatical people, there is everything! There were half-mad priests who also diverted devotion to Our Lady, there was everything in reaction to the Protestant controversy... There was little less than a kind of idolatry of the Virgin... The Virgin Mary, through us, your catechists, has taught to you OBEY... This is why I said that everything you have received from the Way, you have received from Mary, your mother. A baby who is in the womb does not know his mother, yet he receives everything from her... when he gets older, he learns to say "Mama"... You are already grown up, you start walking by yourself... now you can be taught: "This is your Mother, call her!"

*a seemingly unique Italian term derogatorily connoting "dependent and cowardly," usually referring to men; the term "mama's boy" might come close in colloquial English.

Self-legitimation, free interpretations

Kiko explains the genesis of the Porto San Giorgio (pictured above); it was entirely God's plan to call Patrizio and Marisa, who lived close by the Holy House of Nazareth:

...All things that indicate how true the Way is. The fact is that God has already thought of things so that it would happen near Loreto. Our Way has to do with the Family of Nazareth. (Meeting of Carmen and Kiko with a Community after the Loreto Pilgrimage (Rome, December 16, 1981, p. 21-22))

And again, he tells us of his "inspiration."

More on "devotionism"

Without the Kerygma, nothing is good (p. 28):

The problem is that supporting Christianity on devotions is absurd. Devotions are useless if there is no true catechetical basis. Going to the shrines, going to Lourdes, praying the rosary: these things do not sufficiently support the gestation of faith if there is no Kerygma. People go to Lourdes, they get excited, they are moved, and after 15 days they sin by fooling around with the secretary and don't care. But it is clear, beyond doubt! There is no serious catechesis, gestation, the whole arc of the gestation of faith that we are doing.

But this does not mean by any means that going to Lourdes is aburd or that praying the rosary is bogus. Keeping only that part of Christianity is not enough, and is equivalent to saying that the pagans are right to say that those people are bigoted, that is, that they base their spirituality on accessory things and that they have no foundation in their life, because afterwards, they are hypocritical, people who do not help you. (A pagan helps you even more if the bigot touches the saints in church every day). They are right; it's the truth. The forms, the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament or the rosary are not to blame. It is not that. These are things that help stoke the fire, but what if there is no fire to stoke?

Kiko accuses the bigots of hypocrisy and of falling into sins of the flesh after having prayed to the Virgin with so much sentimentality. The Kerygma alone saves! And he found himself with a Way that was a den of hypocrites who, following him, always defended those who cause scandal by gravely sinning against their neighbor.

In closing, Kiko's final conclusion is noteworthy (p. 29):

I mean we have interpreted these things for you like this. When Jesus entrusts his mother to the Church, to the apostles, when does he give them his mother? When he has to disappear from this world, when he goes to die. So you must understand that we must leave you, we leave you to the Virgin Mary. Why? Until now you did not need the Virgin Mary because she has always been with you. You were in her womb. She gave you everything. She gave you being.

Here the total assimilation of Kiko with Our Lady is incredible and brazen: the "brothers of the community" did not need her. Through the "work" of the catechists, Our Lady herself carried them in her womb! This is what they suggest. Almost blasphemy!

Now you have become adults, let's say this, you will renew your Baptism. You are adults and now we present you to the one who gave birth to you, who was your parent, who carried you, inspired Kiko, Carmen, has always been close to you. This is not because you turn to her when you have a need, no, I did not say any of this, but quite the opposite.

Absolutely a delusion.

This is the original Kikian doctrine, when he, too, was still convinced that the Way would end, the communities would dissolve, and he and the itinerants would go away forever once the mission was finished. This was in the 80s and they had their whole lives ahead of them. But then, time flies also for Kiko and, when one by one the communities began to escape his grasp - as children do once they grow up and leave home - panic seized him, he made an about-face, and he spoke no more of "leaving" anyone or anything.

The Loreto Stage, yet another Neocatechumenal walkway

In Porto San Giorgio, they tell you how the Global International Center was born. In Loreto, they teach you the Rosary sung with a Kikian melody - as if this sublime prayer needed it. They can't pray to her like everyone else! In Loreto, they then continue with the history of the Shrine, only to emphasize the usual question: "Why did the Angels transport the Holy House right there? So close to Porto San Giorgio? Where a certain Patrizio converted and donated everything to make a Center for convivences: the House of Itinerants?"

God had a whole plan, in which they alone are the center. And so, the Kikatechists make the phenomena, knowing that they will tell the brothers surprising things.

Other than the Battle of Lepanto, the conversion of Russia, the children of Fatima, and the prophecies of peace!

While, as always, they replace the sacred and the divine with their sterile and inscrutable nonsense, ends in themselves.

 

 

Strange Bedfellows?

 

[The following is an adapted and expanded translation of an open letter written in February 1994 by Fr. Enrico Zoffoli, an Italian Passionist priest and theologian. It was reproduced in July 2012 in the Italian periodical Faith and Culture, then again in September 2012 by the Osservatorio. The full Osservatorio article (whose translated closing commentary we also include), along with the letter's full citation and provenance, can be found here.]

Why does the Catholic Church condemn Freemasonry? Pope Leo XIII explains better than many, in his 1902 Apostolic Letter, Annum Ingressi (also called Vigesimo Quinto Anno). In that letter, he writes:

...A certain sect of darkness is engaged, a sect which human society these many years carries within itself and which like a deadly poison destroys its happiness, its fecundity, and its life... It constitutes a sort of regressive society whose object is to exercise an occult suzerainty over the established order and whose whole purpose is to make war against God and against His Church. There is no need of naming it, for all will recognize in these traits the society of Freemasons, of which we have already spoken, expressly in Our Encyclical, Humanum Genus of the 20th of April, 1884... It has succeeded in entering all classes of society... While loudly professing its respect for authority and even for religion, [it] has for its ultimate purpose, as its own statutes declare, the destruction of all authority as well as of the priesthood.

Strange Analogies

There are documents that show plans to subdue and annihilate the Roman Catholic Church. These documents show the points to be hit, and the ways to do it: eliminating respect for the sacred, for the priesthood, for the dogmas and the cults of the Saints and of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Strangely, in the Neocatechumenal communities, everything that leads back to the purposes of Freemasonry is taught: trying to eliminate precisely the Marian cult and the cults of the Saints, respect for all that is sacred, for the priesthood, and for the dogmas of the faith. It is a Catholic-Protestant-Jewish syncretism; that is, a Catholic shell (so to speak) with Protestant doctrine tending towards Judaism.

Gnosis

The Gnostic heresies have been, since the patristic era, among the most recurrent enemies of the Church; but, despite repeated attacks, they have never been able to put a scratch on the Bride of Christ. The heresies are based on "knowledge" (gnosis, literally, in Greek), which is reserved for a small number of people (the "initiates" or "enlightened," or whatever, according to the various sects), while the others (the "members" or "affiliates") must remain in the dark about everything, not having the slightest clue where their path will lead. Many people join Freemasonry without having the slightest idea where this affiliation could lead them. Perhaps they join due to the vaguely philanthropic impression given by some lodges, or perhaps even to increase their personal power and thus increase their capital (both social and material). Certainly, they never imagine becoming real slaves of Satan--something that only some will come to understand, climbing the long ladder of initiation.

Albert Pike (1809-1891) authored the book, "Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry."

When one enters the Neocatechumenal movement, one must forget questions. For a long time, asking questions is not allowed; and even when it does come time to ask something, the answers are evasive, unless they concern the future of the "Way," because then everything is top secret. Knowledge is all in the hands of the "catechists," who are not people with any particular background in theology, liturgics, patristics, or anything else; they are only people who have already walked at least five or six years and have been indoctrinated by others before them. They themselves have no idea what will be taught in the next few years. The best pupil for the Neocatechumenals is the one who is completely ignorant of the Catechism (the real one), theology, and Sacred Scriptures, in order to be able to teach them whatever they want. The very fact that in the Neocatechumenal movement there is this "gnostic" hierarchical scale, in the light of the history of the Church, makes one very much doubt the goodness of the end result.

Attack on the Church

Documents have been filtered from various Masonic sources which attest to the fact that plans for the annihilation of the Church have been underway for many years, working from within. Let's examine four points of interest to our study:

1. The devaluation and depreciation of the Most Holy Eucharist, and consequently the desacralization (ironically a favorite word among Neocats) and profanation of Catholic worship and places of worship.
2. The elimination of Mariology from Catholic theology, and the contempt for post-biblical--especially Marian--prophecy.
3. The elimination of the ministerial priesthood and of everything that has to do with the sacred.
4. The use of money to increase approval.

Point 1: For the Neocatechumenals, the Mass is not a real "sacrifice," the perpetuation of the sacrifice of the Cross, but only a community banquet that celebrates the saving power of the Risen Christ, which it is good to celebrate not in consecrated churches, but in any old room, to highlight that it is just a meal. If it is celebrated in a church, for spatial reasons (with more communities brought together), the altar (i.e. the table) must be removed from the sanctuary and placed in the center of the church. The consecrated bread does not substantially change into the Body and Blood of Christ, as it has no other function than that of symbolizing the spiritual presence of him who, having risen, drags everyone onto his chariot of fire (c.f. 2 Kings 2).

Denied the Eucharistic sacrifice and transubstantiation, the "consecrated bread" (with all its remains and fragments) excludes the Real Presence of Christ. Therefore, in Masses carried out by Neocatechumenal priests, the purification of sacred vessels is often not carried out correctly; it does not matter if fragments fall to the ground (this used to be called sacrilege...), and any worship is denied to the Blessed Sacrament. In some parishes, people do not have any idea what the Forty Hours Devotion is, or have any concept of serious Eucharistic Adoration since Eucharistic worship is limited to an exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for about twenty minutes each First Friday--a practice kept around to please the "old ladies" who are "used to it." Once, someone who had recently entered a community, seeing some abandoned fragments in a chalice, pointed this out and was answered, "If you still believe in these things, this spirituality is not for you!"

Point 2: Talking about Our Lady to the Neocatechumenals is like talking about the Blue Fairy--a fable, or little more. The figure of the Co-Redemptrix and Mother of the Church does not exist; saying the Rosary is crazy, or thereabouts. The only Marian effigy allowed is an icon with a vaguely Byzantine flavor, called "Kiko's Madonna" (see above). The only rapprochement took place during the Marian Year (1987), but more to be seen by the Pope than out of any real conviction; in fact, the Neocatechumenals took subsequently very little interest in Mary Most Holy, and in all Mariology. Obviously, we cannot speak to the Neocatechumenals of Medjugorje or similar things, but even of Lourdes, Fatima, etc., all importance is denied.

[Kiko, incidentally, has claimed his own "intellectual vision" of the Blessed Virgin, and those who progress on the Way for no less than 15 years get to hear some extremely fascinating teachings about what amounts to an "assimilation" of Kiko and Our Lady... but those are topics for another day.]

Point 3: The elimination of sacrifice involves the suppression of the ministerial priesthood since there is no other priesthood to be recognized except that of Christ: the Eucharist is celebrated by the community of believers, all indiscriminately participating in that one priesthood... This, of course, stands in direct contrast to the Second Vatican Council's teaching in Lumen Gentium (see specifically §10-11), and yet the Way repeatedly contends it is the purest fruit and truest fulfillment of that Council. The exclusion of the ministerial priesthood leads to the collapse of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy; that is, to the rejection of the Sacred Order which founded it. Once suppressed, the Church--as a visible and hierarchical society--no longer has any reason to exist.

In fact, in the Neocatechumenate, all authority and all knowledge rest in the hands of the catechists, to whom even the priests must give obedience. How many times priests have been treated poorly without the slightest respect for their state! The Neocatechumenals, then, never kneel--neither in front of the Blessed Sacrament, nor at the Consecration. They assume irreverent attitudes during the celebrations. Once, a Neocat Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion was smoking while transporting the Blessed Sacrament to the sick. When someone pointed this out to him, he replied, "How do you know Jesus didn't also smoke?" ...No comment.

Point 4: The Way has large sums of money that are generously donated by its followers. With what "liberality," there would be much to discuss. There once was a nun, for instance, who, although she possessed nothing already, had her watch taken from her so that she would free herself from all possessions, because of the vow of poverty. Having arrived at a certain point of the Way, people have to give "tithing," obviously not knowing where the money ends up: no one presents final balances. In large part, the money is given in handouts to the parishes and dioceses that host the Way, in order to increase their approval rating with the hierarchy.

Another aspect of the Neocatechumenal Way that is reflective of the statutes of Freemasonry is their behavior towards others. In the Masonic Oath, it is obligatory to help the "brothers" of the same lodge. For the Neocatechumenals, there is the obligation of mutual aid within their own community, and possibly of the other communities, while it is not necessary to help those who do not belong to the movement. The justification for such behavior is found in the teaching according to which salvation is not obtained by works, by exclusively by accepting the Resurrection of the Lord--a typically Protestant and clearly heretical thesis.

Conclusion

As we have been able to observe the many points of contact between Freemasonry and the Neocatechumenal Way, everything would suggest that the Neocatechumenals were born from Freemasonry as a time bomb to explode within the Catholic Church. Of course, this alarming hypothesis is only just that, as concrete evidence is still lacking. However, it seems strange that being born of different "mothers," there are so many similarities between the aims and principles of Freemasonry and the behavior and catechesis of the Neocatechumenals. It naturally is not up to this blog or its authors to make definitive judgments on all this, but we do want to raise the alarm, so that those with the charism of guarding the orthodoxy of the faith can analyze and dissect this problem in depth.

Epilogue

Before being overwhelmed by a wave of Neocatechumenal slogans that will furiously deny what is reported above, let's try to put ourselves in the shoes of a "brother in the community," who today might do one or more of the following things in good faith, and then ask ourselves how his so-called "catechists" would react:

• He goes on pilgrimage to Lourdes, or Fatima, or the tomb of some Saint without waiting for his Neocatechumenal community to organize one.
• He asks some members of more "advanced" communities what he will find in the next "stages," in order to better prepare himself, as suggested by 1 Pt 3:15.
• He kneels during the Consecration at the Saturday evening celebration.
• He doesn't flaunt any of Kiko's works at home; he instead has a statue of Our Lady of Fatima and a reproduction of Fra Angelico's Annunciation.
• After Communion, instead of doing the dance around the table, he remains on his knees in silent thanksgiving, despite the infernal din around him.
• In place of the "tithe," he deposits in the black bag the receipts of money orders for the offerings he made to the cloistered nuns, the sum of which perhaps exceeds 10% of his salary.
• He consumes Communion as soon as he receives it, and when the "liturgical waiters" return, he avoids drinking from the "salad bowl" out of a natural hygienic instinct. (Communion under a single species is not already only complete, but it is not even forbidden.)
• He goes to visit his uncle in the hospital after an urgent operation, on Saturday night, reserving the right to attend Mass on Sunday morning.
• He joins the promoters of Eucharistic Adoration in the parish, but without demanding to include either paintings or songs by Kiko.
• In preparing the church for the Saturday evening celebration, he neglects to carry the large table to the center of the nave; he leaves pews arranged towards the altar and the tabernacle and moreover places the bookmark in the Roman Missal.

At this point, we can reread the article--still incredibly current despite the original being nearly 30 years old--and ask ourselves how the so-called "catechists" would react, and if their behavior contributes to making the question so burning and relevant: why are there so many strange points of contact between Freemasonry and the Neocatechumenate?

This has been the first, but most assuredly not the last article regarding the connections between Masons and Neocats. While we understand that mentioning Freemasonry online in connection to just about anything will tend to elicit raised eyebrows, eye rolls, and cries of "conspiracy theory!", there nonetheless remains more to be said... So stay tuned.

Denver: A Revenge Story

 

The following letter comes to us from our friends at the Osservatorio, via Crux Sancta. It was written by Giuseppe Gennarini, Kiko's American caporegime, concerning the then-upcoming 1993 World Youth Day to be held in this blog's fair home city of Denver. It is a very interesting letter for a number of reasons, which we will address in due course.

Though undated, we approximate the letter's composition to have been sometime between August 1991 and April 1992 (the Osservatorio posits it could have been written as early as 1990, though this seems unlikely). Gennarini references--seemingly in the past tense--the World Youth Day in Częstochowa, Poland, which took place from August 10-15, 1991 ("Until now, all the World Youth Days have been centered..."). John Paul II made his official announcement regarding traveling to Denver on April 12, 1992, during his Palm Sunday Angelus address (this is supported by American news articles, such as this one from the St. Petersburg Times, that appeared the following day). Since Gennarini seems to be operating on a rumor ("As far as I know...the chosen location is Denver), and the entire tone of the letter is to persuade against this choice, the official announcement almost certainly had not yet been made.