Pope Benedict and "Careful Observance"

 

"We're approved by 5 popes. Do you know better than 5 popes??"

Such was the challenge that I was issued by my former Neocat pastor for daring to question the sacred integrity of the Way. Perhaps you've encountered similar challenges. The better question might be, "do you know better?"

Upon the passing of Pope Benedict XVI, Kiko shared a short reflection with his followers, fondly remembering a letter that the then-Father Ratzinger allegedly wrote in the early 70s expressing his desire for the Way to spread throughout Germany. Below, we also see then-Cardinal Ratzinger celebrating a Neocat Eucharist.

Undoubtedly, these are the images and memories the Way would most like to recall when speaking of the late Pontiff. However, there are some remarks they would perhaps much prefer to forget, such as:

"...Recently the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments imparted to you, in my name, some norms concerning the celebration of the Eucharist, following the experimental period granted by Pope John Paul II.

I am sure that these norms, which continue what is expected in the liturgical books approved by the Church, will be carefully observed by you. Thanks to faithful adherence to every directive of the Church, you will make your apostolate even more effective, in harmony and in full communion with the Pope and the Bishops of every diocese..." (January 26, 2006, to the families of the Neocatechumenal Way)

Or:

"Dear Mr. Kiko Argüello, Miss Carmen Hernandez, and Rev. Fr. Mario Pezzi, following the dialogues that have taken place with this Congregation... I am communicating to you the decisions of the Holy Father.

In the celebration of Holy Mass, the Neocatechumenal Way will accept and follow the liturgical books approved by the Church, without omitting or adding anything." (Letter from the CDW, December 1, 2005)

And:

"The celebration in small communities, regulated by the liturgical books, which must be followed faithfully..." (January 20, 2012, to the communities of the Neocatechumenal Way)

If you go to the doctor and he says, "you're fine with the ingrown toenail, but you need urgent surgery on your eyes," do you focus on the good things he said (about the toenail) or the unpleasant things (about the eyes) that he said to you? Even if he said a hundred good things to you and only one worrying one, do you focus on those hundred good things, or do you try to correct the one bad thing?

With regard to Pope Benedict, do you focus on his paternal benevolence, or on the corrections he made to you which he expected to be "faithfully followed"?

Does the Way accept the paternal admonition from the Letter to the Hebrews, "the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives"? If they were really the faithful sons of the Church they claim to be, one would certainly hope so.

However, we know from long experience that Kiko and the Way have zero interest in accepting corrections from anyone. They and they alone know best. They faithfully follow their own liturgical books, no one else's.

So let them pay their lip service to their dearly departed Holy Father. Let them bask in the Eucharists he celebrated with them and the letters he wrote on their behalf. Pope Benedict loved the followers of the Way enough to insist on their adherence to the Church, like any good father would. It's a shame they never loved him enough to listen.

[The above quotes, as well as a portion of the above commentary, are translations from the Osservatorio.]