A recent post on the Italian blog Osservatorio brought back my own original thoughts that the Way hinted of Communistic tendencies. Only recently did I dive into Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago about the rise of communism in Russia. As I read, I was amazed at how often some of the tactics reminded me of my time in the Way. Admittedly, as an American, you’d think we have been well schooled in what communism, socialism and fascism really are; however, having not gone through these things personally on our own soil (although one could argue it has been gradually spoiling the American waterhole for decades now), more recent generations are not being taught this thoroughly. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) i.e. Communist Russia and National Socialist German Workers Party i.e Nazis were distilled down to (very basically), bad guys who killed a lot people in their own country and beyond, with the latter having had a tremendous more amount of time and attention in our history classes. Learning about Mussolini in Italy, Franco in Spain, or Tojo in Japan were all fairly lumped together in the bad guy category of extremely nationalistic and egotistical fascists. Dan Mitchell at the Center for Freedom and Prosperity writes a concise piece making the case that Communists, Socialists, Fascists, and Nazis, are all just flavors of collectivism. So if Socialism breeds Communism, and Communism and Fascism are “kissing cousins”, what does that have to do with the Neocatechumenal Way? Don’t all the “isms” above despise religion? So how could the Way possibly have anything to do with collectivism? Let us examine some of the links.
JungleWatch has already done a thorough background on the founders of the Way Kiko Arguello and Carmen Hernandez, which can be read here.
“Far from being this movement of new revival portrayed with very great sense of marketing, the beginning of the movement by Carmen and Kiko is totally immersed in a Church in full cooperation with a Fascist movement, and using its connections in Rome to parlay special conditions for them to set a bridgehead in very close proximity to the Vatican.”
Fast forward to today where Carmen has passed away and Kiko has been pretty much sidelined; Italian, Giuseppi Gennarini (Official director for the Way in the United States) to take Kiko's place - by his own admission was a Marxist activist who happened upon a catechesis by Kiko, then joined a community with fellow communists and the “bourgeois” (this is an absolute favorite word used very broadly by Neocats everywhere - I can’t tell you how many homilies from Neocat priests speak with disdain using this term to describe their very own congregations). Interestingly, he doesn’t denounce his Marxism (at least only partly) but as Chuck White writes, the methods and tactics of Communism are very much still in full swing as we will examine in a moment.
“The Italian fascists had even closer ties to the Marxists, with Mussolini having begun his career as a Marxist publicist and writer. A few Italian fascists even held positions in the Comintern. The only serious divide between the Italian fascists (or those who would become fascists) and Italian communists in the 1910s was their support, or not, of Italy’s participation in World War I.”
“In his profound work Reflections on a Ravaged Century, Robert Conquest labeled all forms of totalitarian socialism a type of “mindslaughter.” Fascism and communism share much in common, he argued. First, the two ideologies came from identical origins in 19th-century thought. Second, both celebrated the peasant revolts of the 1500s as foreshadowing 20th-century uprisings. Third, both claimed to speak in the name of “the people” and “the masses.” Fourth, both embraced a variety of social sciences and pseudosciences from the 19th century, though the Marxists did it with more finesse. Fifth, both claimed to be progressing humanity toward some end goal. And, finally, both accepted moral nihilism.”
Robert Paxton, professor emeritus at Columbia University, defines fascism in his 2004 book The Anatomy of Fascism. He also argues that fascism's foundations lie in a set of "mobilizing passions" rather than an elaborated doctrine. He argues these passions can explain much of the behavior of fascists[32](I have bracketed simple examples of how the Way matches the bullet points by Paxton):
a sense of overwhelming crisis beyond the reach of any traditional solutions; (the church is dying, families are in crisis! the Neocat will tell you)
the primacy of the group, toward which one has duties superior to every right, whether individual or universal, and the subordination of the individual to it; (the Way is the “correct” and true church - even priests are commanded by lay catechists Kiko, and the Gennarinis the Way comes before duties to family, to your parish, to your parishioners)
the belief that one’s group is a victim, a sentiment that justifies any action, without legal or moral limits, against its enemies, both internal and external; (any--and I mean any--criticism or even questioning of the Way the Neocat wails about being “persecuted”)
dread of the group’s decline under the corrosive effects of individualistic liberalism, class conflict, and alien influences; ( “you are nothing without the community” they want the rich people’s money and the “regular” Catholic’s money all the while disdaining them and labeling them bourgeois; those within the parish but outside of the community are pathetic “natural religious” and are either not illuminated by the Way or if they have learned and rejected the Way they are a disease to be avoided)
the need for closer integration of a purer community, by consent if possible, or by exclusionary violence if necessary; (have as many children as possible and condemn those who do not - even if they simply could not have a large family or any children- as selfish and inferior; the Way has their own private Eucharists, communities are closed, you can begin by attending the "catechesis")
the need for authority by natural chiefs (always male), culminating in a national chieftain who alone is capable of incarnating the group’s historical destiny; (so-called “catechists” anyone?)
the superiority of the leader’s instincts over abstract and universal reason; Kiko, Carmen, and the Gennarini’s, yes, check)
the beauty of violence and the efficacy of will, when they are devoted to the group’s success; (coerced public confessions, threatened or implied “bad things” will come your way if you leave, unmerciful scolding if you put family or your job before a lousy convivence or any time with community)
the right of the chosen people to dominate others without restraint from any kind of human or divine law, right being decided by the sole criterion of the group’s prowess within a Darwinian struggle. (again, Catechists and supreme Catechist Kiko - how many times were we told to "listen and obey your catechist!")
“Collective is more important than the individual” - Community - the Way speaks of the Community more often than even perhaps Jesus Christ. They will tell you “the Lord has a word for you”; “the Lord wants to meet you in your suffering, your wounds”, all in the beginning, but how quickly they change the tune from “the Lord” to the community. You are lost without the community…in community you will learn to be humble, the community will teach you to love the enemy. How you are identified is by your community. How odd it was that even in general Catholic functions, when in conversation with someone who knew I was “in community” they would NOT ask which parish I belonged to but rather “which community”. I found this odd as our community was simply designated by a number (hmm Solzhenitsyn in The Gulag Archipelago goes into detail about how you are no longer a name, but a number, a cog in the wheel in his grueling account of Communist Russia).
The community comes before your family, your job, yourself, your parish, and Christ. Christ? Is that a bit far? How so you may ask? Well, how often is silent, contemplative prayer, one on one with our Lord even a possibility at the Eucharist with our Lord? How about after confession? Silence is often how we hear our Father in Heaven, and silence is simply taken up all. the. time. In the Way - with a catechist’s never-ending lecture, or songs and clapping. Not that disturbances don’t happen in a regular mass after communion with chatter in the pews or performance-worthy choir pieces that seem to prompt our ridiculous need to applaud at the end. Generally speaking, the church itself is a place of quiet prayer and preparation, especially as we should enter the sanctuary. In the Way, the sanctuary, if there is one, is a place no different that Protestant assemblies with greeting and chatter. The collective is more important than the individual indeed.
Promoted revolutionary change over gradual change. How quickly parishes that are led by a Neocat priest turn into almost a completely different dynamic. Although they often won’t pronounce intentions of transforming a parish; the Kiko aesthetics begin to emerge rather quickly along with those working or volunteering in the parish replaced with those “already in community”. It’s a one party system in the neocat led parish and they come to divide like a sword. To them division is good in fact if there isn’t division you’re doing something wrong - they twist and turn Matthew 10:34; albeit one of Jesus’ more difficult quotes, they seem to forget that Jesus also had his disciple sheath his sword. Within the community, if we weren’t fighting, we were “being fake, still wearing a mask” - they thrive on division and the last three Popes have warned them about this. They love the sword analogy so much, that Kiko has incorporated his phallic like sword fountain at his Redmeptoris Mater Seminaries world wide.
Finally, all the other aspects have to do with control. Numerous accounts have been written and discussed on the mind control tactics used to break down and manipulate members. The Neocat will say, however, that the Way taught them to love the enemy, to reconcile with those who have or continue to hurt you. Why does the Neocat not question why his fellow Catholic is labeled the enemy; or that loved ones are the enemy; or simply those who question are the enemy? Why are countless women told to put up with actual physical, potentially grave violence, by their husbands, endangering their children’s physical and mental well-being? Truly harmful situations one is told it is their cross; that is ok - forgive and don't judge and don't leave unless that person is getting in the way of the community - but the one who leaves the Way is Judas, better off that he should not have been born. The mindslaughter one is put through “in the Way” is the opposite of simplicity and love; it is of control and confusion.
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